UBS Group AG revamped the leadership of its Middle East wealth unit and named new management for its Latin America businesses as the Swiss lender integrates its once-rival Credit Suisse.
Credit Suisse’s Bruno Daher will become Christl Novakovic’s deputy for the Middle East region, among the round of management changes announced in memos to staff. Ali Janoudi, who previously ran UBS’s wealth business for the Middle East and Africa, will become executive chairman in Ben Cavalli’s strategic-clients unit.
The bank also named Sylvia Coutinho Brazil country head and the regional leader for Latin America businesses. All the changes take effect July 17th.
“I’m confident that each of these teams has the right leaders to move our business forward,” Iqbal Khan, who runs UBS’s wealth unit, said in one of the memos.
Employees in Credit Suisse’s wealth unit are being told to dust off their resumes ahead of a slew of appointments to lower-ranking roles in global wealth management, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News. Those wanting to be considered for roles were told to update their career aspirations and openness to mobility by July 13.
Among other announcements:
- Marcello Chilov, Credit Suisse’s former chief executive officer in Brazil and head of wealth management for Latin America, will run UBS global wealth management in Latin America. Formally, Chilov will remain CEO of Credit Suisse in Brazil as well as its head of investment banking in the country until that entity is dissolved.
- Andreea Grob will run a new market region for Turkey, Israel, Greece and Africa.
- Puneet Matta, based in India, will be head of global wealth management for India and non-resident Indians.
- Michael Marr will run global wealth management for Australia.
Thousands of Credit Suisse staff are expected to lose their jobs in the wake of the lender’s rescue, particularly in the investment bank. Wealth bankers have been one notable exception, with UBS trying to retain many of them along with the client relationships they oversee, particularly in Asia.
Read More: UBS Names New Leadership Team for Brazil, Latin America
Appointments made across UBS’s leadership ranks already display UBS’s dominance. The executive board contains only one Credit Suisse holdover, Ulrich Koerner, who remains CEO of the acquired bank. In the key wealth management unit, just five of the more than two dozen leadership appointments made last month came from Credit Suisse.
--With assistance from Denise Wee.
(Adds Janoudi’s role in second paragraph.)
Author: Myriam Balezou, Marion Halftermeyer and Cristiane Lucchesi
