Revolving doors continue at large global banks, while Chinese regulators tighten rules for structured deposits further

Thomas de Garidel, former head of equities trading Asia Pacific (Apac) at HSBC, has joined UBS as head of Apac derivatives & solutions based in Hong Kong. De Garidel joined the Swiss bank on 5 October as part of the derivatives and solutions management team and the bank’s Apac global markets management committee, according to an internal memo seen by SRP. He reports to Dushyant Chadha, global co-head of derivatives and solutions, Imed Souki, global co-head of derivatives & solutions, functionally, and Taichi Takahashi, Apac head of global markets, regionally.

The Swiss bank continues to build up its senior management team following the restructuring of its ultra-high net worth business and its investment platforms and solutions division, and the decision to create a Unified Global Markets division.

Credit Suisse has appointed veteran Christian Meissner as co-head of international wealth management investment banking advisory (IWM IBA) and vice chairman of investment banking, as of 26 October 2020. Based in Zurich, Meissner will become a member of the IWM management committee and report to Philipp Wehle, CEO of international wealth management, and to Brian Chin, CEO of the investment bank. He will be responsible for further developing and executing the bank’s IWM strategy for high-net worth clients together with Babak Dastmaltschi, chairman of strategic clients IWM and co-head of IWM IBA.

BNP Paribas has announced the appointment of Paul Yang as head of Apac, in addition to his role as CEO of corporate and institutional banking (CIB) Apac, from 1 December 2020. Yang takes over Eric Raynaud who will retire from BNP Paribas in December, after a more than 40-year career in banking including more than half spent in Asia. In his expanded role, Yang will oversee all the Group’s activities in Apac, while continuing to act as CEO of CIB Asia Pacific.

In the US, Goldman Sachs has poached two senior executives from Schwab and Pershing RIA custody units as it moves to leverage the acquisition of Folio Financial.

The US bank has hired Schwab Advisor Services managing director Richard Lofgren and BNY Mellon Pershing director Bill Dalton. Lofgren and Dalton are the first of five regional business development executives that will join the investment bank reporting to Goldman's co-heads for RIA custody, Adam Siegler and Cameron Brien.

Structured products regulation in China has always been a hot topic, and two recent developments have shed more light on how the situation is unfolding there.

Banks offering structured deposits in China have scaled down the balance of these products on their books, to meet the ‘window guidance’ requirement set up by the regulator in June, according to the latest data released by the People’s Bank of China. The figure, which represents 69.7% of structured deposits from corporate clients and 30.1% from retail investors, shows a continued drop of CNY562.7 billion from a month ago.

The new guidelines set up controls on the expansion of structured deposits and outline a framework for tighter requirements including risk management, personnel training, disclosure and a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours, which has put dual currency investment business at risk, as SRP reported. Indeed, Chinese banks are finalising their paperwork to meet new requirements set by the landmark regulatory framework targeting the sales of structured deposits. As most banks get ready, new concerns have come to the fore regarding dual currency structured deposits which now will require a minimum cooling-off period of 24 hours for investors after their subscription which will have to include a free-of-charge termination clause for investors to be able to cancel the investment before the product strikes.

“That could damage our business given the large volatility in the FX market,” said another senior banker at a foreign bank.

Over in the US, Citi has become the number one structured products issuer, according to SRP data. The US bank saw structured products sales in the US market increase by 87% Y-o-Y as it reports a ‘very strong’ performance from its institutional client group in Q3.

It collected a combined US$2.2 billion (from 767 products) via its Citigroup Global Markets issuance vehicle in the third quarter of 2020, up 87% in sales and up 91% in issuance from the prior year quarter. It is now the market leader in the US, with a market share of just under 13%. Goldman Sachs and Barclays with a share of 12.5% and 11%, respectively, came second and third.

In its third quarter 2020 results, Citigroup reported a 34% decrease in net income.

Revenues, at US$17.3 billion, decreased seven percent from the prior-year period, primarily reflecting lower revenues in global consumer banking (GCB) and corporate/other, partially offset by growth in fixed income markets, investment banking, equity markets and the private bank in the institutional clients group.

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