Published by AsianPrivateBanker – 5th May 2015
UBP, the Swiss private bank dominating headlines for its acquisition of the international assets of Coutts last month, is expected to announce a new CEO for Asia.
The leadership change was communicated to select members of senior management on Monday.
Michael Longhini, head of the global private banking function at the bank, has chosen a former BNP Paribas colleague Eric Morin to lead what is likely to be the most exciting phase for the bank’s Asian franchise thus far.
Morin’s appointment comes as a surprise to many, given the stable of senior talent available at Coutts, but regulators were expected to be more comfortable with a “neutral and external” leader.
“Seconding” a member of Coutts regional management team was thus not an option for the moment. Needless to say, things could change rapidly once the integration is completed by early 2016 and the bank’s leadership at that time could be more representative of Coutts senior management.
Morin, a career banker with almost three decades under his belt, was most recently chief executive Southeast Asia for J. Safra Sarasin. He resigned from that position in February this year after having spent a little over one year with the bank.
Prior to that, Morin was with BNP Paribas since 1987, resigning as the private bank’s head f international and other Asian markets in 2012.
When contacted for a comment, a spokesperson for UBP declined to comment.
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