In a major senior management reshuffle at UBS, Iqbal Khan will succeed Edmund Koh as the president of Asia Pacific.

UBS has appointed Iqbal Khan as APAC president, effective September 1, according to a statement, and co-president of Global Wealth Management (GWM). He will relocate to Asia later this summer together with his family. 

Khan succeeds Edmund Koh who has been the APAC president since 2019. Koh will remain with the bank as regional chair APAC to continue supporting clients and businesses in the region.

Global Reshuffle

The appointment is part of a broader reshuffle at the enlarged Swiss bank. Rob Karofsky has been named president UBS Americas and GWM co-president alongside Khan.

George Athanasopoulos and Marco Valla will become investment banking co-presidents while Damian Vogel succeeds Christian Bluhm as group chief risk officer. Athanasopoulos, Valla and Vogel will all join the bank’s Group Executive Board (GEB). Head group human resources and corporate services Stefan Seiler will expand his remit to include group communications and branding.

Retiring Bankers

Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Körner will step down from GEB at the end of June, following the merger of the two parent banks, and retire from the Swiss lender later this year. Regional president UBS Americas Naureen Hassan has also decided to retire from the bank, effective July 1, after first joining the firm in 2022.

«I would like to thank Christian Bluhm, Edmund Koh, Ulrich Körner and Naureen Hassan for their exceptional contributions to the firm over the years, especially during this period of change,» commented group CEO Sergio P. Ermotti.

Regional Focus

According to Ermotti, the latest moves highlight the importance of the regional businesses in the Americas and Asia. In March, he said that he expected APAC to account for 20 percent of total assets under management in five or six years, up from the current level of around 15 percent. 

«The appointments to the Group Executive Board we are announcing today will allow us to continue to progress on our integration journey and realize the expected synergies and efficiencies, while putting even more emphasis on our long-term priorities and growth prospects, particularly in the Americas and Asia-Pacific,» he commented.