Spokespeople for both lenders declined to comment.
The first emergency sale of a major bank since the financial crisis is presenting rivals the chance to scoop up key personnel or businesses that might otherwise not have been on offer. Deutsche Bank sees room to expand its deals business in Asia and is looking to hire selectively, the lender’s regional head of investment banking said in November.
Lim, a Singapore-based managing director, has been at Credit Suisse for more than 20 years and also heads M&A for frontier markets, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Swiss bank is grappling with the fallout from its emergency rescue by UBS Group AG. The deal signed last month may cut the overall workforce by up to 30%, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified senior manager at UBS. Credit Suisse bankers meanwhile have been calling headhunters and rival firms to ask about job opportunities.
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In Southeast Asia, where Credit Suisse is among major deal advisers, it is on seven pending deals worth about US$3 billion ($3.98 billion) that were announced in the last 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. These transactions include Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s purchase of an additional stake in Philippines-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
