Private bank Julius Baer appointed a new head for the Taiwanese market. He joins the firm from larger Swiss rival UBS.

Chew Mun-Yew joins Julius Baer with immediate effect as the market head Taiwan. He joins from UBS, where he is currently in the same role and will report to David Shick, head of private banking Greater China, the bank said in a statement.

The move underscores the Swiss bank's wish to build out its Taiwanese business, which is growing less rapidly than Singapore, Hong Kong, and China, but nevertheless a budding market for wealth managers.

Blindsided by CEO Exit

Prior to his Taiwan role at UBS, Chew was head of risk across Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific from 2012. He has held roles at Carlyle Asia, DBS Group and American Express. Prior to his private sector career, worked for the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a senior banking and insurance regulator for more than five years.

The move caps what has been a tumultuous week for the Zurich-based bank. Its was blindsided earlier this week, when charismatic chief executive Boris Collardi very suddenly for a partnership at rival firm Pictet.

Under Collardi, Julius Baer hired aggressively over the last 18 months in Singapore and Hong Kong, with a focus on five key markets: mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and India.