Credit Suisse said yesterday that Chiqui Huang and Johnny Escaler have been appointed co-heads of investment banking for the Philippines. Together they will jointly lead the bank’s coverage of clients in the country and develop its franchise “in this key market”, according to a statement.
Both Manila-based appointments are effective immediately. Huang has been a big part of Credit Suisse’s Philippines investment banking team since 2004, having led many high-profile capital raisings, liability management and M&A transactions for the government and leading companies in the country. Previously, she worked for J.P. Morgan, focusing on investment banking and corporate banking businesses, after graduating from the University of the Philippines.
Escaler joins from Goldman Sachs in Singapore where he worked from 2008 to 2012. He was an executive director responsible for Philippines coverage of the fixed income, currencies and commodities group. Prior to that, he worked at ING in Manila as head of financial markets sales and in New York as an emerging markets fixed income trader. He holds an MBA from Columbia University.
Huang and Escaler report to Vikram Malhotra and Helman Sitohang, Asia-Pacific co-heads of investment banking at Credit Suisse.
They replace Simon Paterno, who will be joining CIMB to become the president of Bank of Commerce, subject to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s approval of CIMB’s purchase of a controlling stake in the bank. Paterno joined Credit Suisse in 2004 from the Development Bank of the Philippines, where he was president and chief executive.
It might seem curious that Escaler, given his capital markets sales background, is taking on a major investment banking role.
But, according to a spokesperson, Escaler and Huang have “experience and complementary skill sets, ranging from capital markets, corporate advisory to structured financing solutions [that] will enhance Credit Suisse’s value proposition to investment banking clients in the Philippines”.
In 2011, Credit Suisse set up an onshore brokerage in Manila to build on the bank’s regional cash equities business. Its brokerage presence includes equity research, sales, sales trading and execution.
“These appointments further demonstrate our commitment to the Philippines, which has become an increasingly attractive market as investors increasingly appreciate the country’s potential and economic resilience,” said Sitohang.
Credit Suisse has been a leading financial adviser to the government and top companies in the Philippines since 1992. This year, the Swiss bank acted as joint bookrunner for the sovereign’s $1.5 billion 25-year bond, for a $175 million block trade by Petron Corporation and for a $300 million five-year bond issue by Carmen Copper.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, in August Credit Suisse hired Jefferi Hashim from Citi to lead Malaysia coverage from Kuala Lumpur. He reports to Edwin Low, head of investment banking coverage for Singapore and Malaysia, who is based in Singapore.
