Credit Suisse is giving a veteran manager additional powers to boost its trading business in Asia. He has already spent a number of years at the Hong Kong offices.
Switzerland’s second-largest bank has appointed Yves-Alain Sommerhalder head of the newly created Asia Pacific trading solutions (ATS) division, the company said in a statement on Thursday. He will assume the post in addition to his current job as co-head of international trading solutions.
The new division for Asia, which falls under the guidance of Asia boss Helman Sitohang, will make sure that trading and private banking is working together more closely. Sommerhalder has completed a similar job as head of international trading solutions (ITS) with aplomb, the bank said.
Three Bosses
Sommerhalder was given a seat on the executive board of the Asian unit at Credit Suisse. He is a member of three such divisional committees and also has three different bosses to report to: Helman Sitohang, Igbal Khan, the head of international wealth management, and Brian Chin, the head of global markets. Sommerhalder will commute between Zurich and Asia.
The performance of the trading division was a cause of headache at Credit Suisse in recent year. Global markets is still looking for a long-term strategy while APAC markets managed a pretax profit of a mere 7 million francs in 2018.
Asia Experience
The trading unit in Asia had no loss in the first quarter, despite challenging conditions, said the bank. Sommerhalder will also be responsible for the financing group in Asia, the unit that develops financial solutions for the very rich, corporate clients and entrepreneurs.
Sommerhalder has been at the Zurich-based bank since 2002 and held several different managerial positions even before the arrival of CEO Tidjane Thiam in 2015. His LinkedIn profile shows that he spent the years from 2011 through 2013 in Hong Kong as head of UHNW solutions.
