Deutsche Bank has hired an experienced JP Morgan banker as its new head of Asia debt syndicate, picking Ed Tsui to take the newly-created position.
Tsui will join the German bank in mid-October and will report to Jake Gearhart, head of debt syndication and origination for Asia Pacific region, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia.
The move means that Gearhart, who took up his post in January, will now have more time to bridge the gap between syndicate and origination. He previously handled syndication on the vast majority of Asian G3 transactions for Deutsche, a full-time job even before his other responsibilities.
It also means that Andrew Stephen, Deutsche’s head of private debt syndicate in Asia Pacific, will get more time to focus on his day-job. Stephen — known to colleagues as Doug — had been helping Gearhart with debt syndication.
The appointment is a new step for Deutsche Bank, which has for years based its senior syndicate bankers in Singapore. Tsui will remain in Hong Kong, where he was based with JP Morgan. The decision to keep him there appears designed, at least in part, to make the move as smooth as possible for him.
Tsui will focus on Asia excluding Japan and Australia, complimenting Gearhart’s wider brief as head of both syndicate and origination in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes both countries.
Prior to Deutsche, Tsui was an executive director with JP Morgan's Asia credit syndicate desk. He spent 12 years with the US bank, gaining experience in equity-linked and derivative capital markets, as well as leveraged finance, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
The move is the latest in a series of changes for Deutsche in Asia. The most high-profile of the appointments was that of Werner Steinmuller, who was named regional CEO earlier this month.
Chief executive John Cryan has implemented a dramatic restructuring at the bank called ‘Strategy 2020’. The move is aimed at making Deutsche simpler, safer, more efficient and better capitalised. But it has also made the bank more Asian-focused.
