UBS Execs Join Citi Asia Pacific Corporate Banking Units

Two UBS Asia Pacific executives have left the bank to join Citigroup, reports said Thursday (June 22).

Jiang Guorong, former head of China investment banking and vice chairman of Asia investment banking at UBS, will join Citi as chairman and head of its China corporate and investment banking operations, according to a recent memo.

Separately, Citi also said Alison Harding-Jones will join the bank as the new head of Europe, Middle East and Africa mergers and acquisitions (EMEA M&A) and vice chairman of EMEA corporate and investment banking. Harding-Jones previously served as head of Asia-Pacific M&A at UBS, reports said.

“With her long track record of building successful M&A practices … she will be a strong asset to our team and a key part of our growth strategy,” said Raymond McGuire, Citigroup’s global head of corporate and investment banking.

According to Reuters, UBS execs have left the bank recently, specifically departing from its Asia operations. Three senior investment bankers in Asia left UBS in May, and the bank is reportedly losing market strength as Chinese banks grow.

As UBS execs depart the region and China’s role in global trade grows, Citi is looking to the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen its corporate banking position.

“[Asia-Pacific] markets are all increasingly interlinked with one another,” said Gerald Keefe, head of Citi Asia Pacific, in an interview with Financial Times last month. “That just winds up creating a very different picture in the next 10 to 20 years.”

A picture, he added, that is “much more geared around China than one that has historically been geared around the U.S.”

Executives said Citigroup aims to add $2 billion in new corporate loans across the Asia-Pacific region.