Credit Suisse continues to expand its Asian fixed-income platform with an announcement yesterday that it is moving Bunt Ghosh to Hong Kong from London and re-hiring Atsushi Mizuno to act as joint vice-chairmen for the bank's regional business.
Ghosh was previously head of fixed-income research for Credit Suisse globally, and Mizuno returns to the bank after a five-year term as a member of the policy board of the Bank of Japan.
"Ghosh and Mizuno will play a key role in developing senior client relationships as well as providing strategic input for the development of Credit Suisse's fixed-income department in Asia-Pacific," the bank stated in a press release.
Both will report to Carsten Stoehr, head of fixed-income in Asia-Pacific, who said that "the appointments reflect the client focus of our global model for fixed-income, and the importance of Asia-Pacific for the bank's future business". He added, that Mizuno's "knowledge and strong relationships across industry, government and business will be invaluable to our further success in the region".
Mizuno was a member of the policy board of the Bank of Japan from December 2004 to December 2009. The policy board, which consists of nine members including the governor and two deputy governors, is the highest policymaking body at Japan's central bank. Mizuno was the first policy board member to join directly from a foreign financial institution in Japan and re-joins Credit Suisse after completing a full term with the Bank of Japan. Before joining the Japanese central bank, he was a managing director and chief fixed-income strategist for Credit Suisse in Japan.
Bunt Ghosh |
Ghosh has combined a banking career with an academic one. From 1986 to 1994, he was responsible for fixed-income and foreign exchange research at Credit Suisse's investment banking unit, after a spell as a Research Fellow and tutor in economics at Oxford University. He then went on to become a visiting professor at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, before rejoining Credit Suisse in 1998.
He has also done research on developing countries for the IMF, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the United Nations, and other research for the Economic Commission of Latin America in Buenos Aires for a number of years. In addition, he was a member of the central policy group at the Financial Services Authority in the UK.
"Bunt is highly regarded in the industry for his intellectual rigor and thought leadership in fixed-income research. His extensive international experience will be valuable to our Asia-Pacific clients," said Stoehr.
The appointment of two such senior individuals with wide experience, strong reputations and gravitas seems designed to impress and attract clients in the region. They follow the hiring of nine directors in late August, including Chunlei Wu from Deutsche Bank, to head flow rates sales for China.
And Credit Suisse will continue to add bodies to its fixed-income division. "As part of our continuing aim to develop our fixed-income franchise in Asia, we intend to increase our headcount in the region by 20% this year across all disciplines, including sales, trading, research and structuring", Stoehr told FinanceAsia.