Tee Fong Seng, the former head of wealth management Southeast Asia and deputy branch manager for UBS Singapore, will join Credit Suisse as vice-chairman and head of ultra high net worth (UHNW) for private banking Asia Pacific from Aug 1.
Based in Singapore and reporting to Marcel Kreis, Credit Suisse's head of private banking Asia Pacific, Mr Tee will 'provide critical support to the strategic direction and oversight of Credit Suisse's private banking business and its market and segment initiatives in the region', the bank said in a statement. He will also be responsible for the strategy and business development of the important UHNW segment in Asia Pacific.
Credit Suisse's UHNW client is defined as one with 50 million Swiss francs (S$67 million) or more in assets under management with the bank.
Mr Tee is the highest- ranking departure from UBS Singapore in the last 12 months.
Late last year, Bahren Shaari, the bank's co-head for Singapore and regional markets manager, quit to later re-emerge at ING Barings several months later. And within weeks of Mr Tee's resignation in late April, Benjamin Cavalli, UBS's head of key clients Singapore, followed suit.
Mr Tee is one of the region's leading private bankers, with more than 30 years of global banking experience, including 14 years with UBS. He sits on the Financial Industry Competency Standards (FICS) Steering Committee of the Institute of Banking and Finance in Singapore and chairs the FICS Wealth Management Working Group.
Several other top global banks, including Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered, tried to court him following his departure from UBS, which followed a management restructuring at the bank here.
Perhaps not surprisingly, his arrival at Credit Suisse Private Banking is seen by some as a coup for the Swiss banking giant.
'This senior appointment demonstrates Credit Suisse's continued strong commitment to its private banking franchise in Asia,' Mr Kreis said in a statement.
'With the depth of Fong Seng's experience and his calibre as a private banker, we will be able to further cement our leading position by leveraging our strong integrated bank platform together with investment banking and asset management, as well as the specialist expertise within private banking dedicated to serving UHNW clients.'
Credit Suisse has 54 billion Swiss francs under management in this region.
