David Chin is returning as UBS's Asia-Pacific investment banking head, two years after retirement.
The veteran dealmaker will resume his duties as Asia-Pacific head of corporate client solutions – the Swiss bank's de facto investment banking division – from next month, according to a memo distributed on Friday morning and seen by FinanceAsia.
Sam Kendall, who had been leading CCS in Asia-Pacific, relocates to New York to focus on his role as head of global ECM according to the memo, which was signed by Andrea Orcel, UBS's investment banking president.
The move caps a string of changes at UBS in recent months, and brings back a dealmaker with a strong track record over 21 years at the bank, working on landmark transactions such as Bank of China's IPO and China Merchants Bank's listing, both in 2006.
UBS lost Joseph Chee, head of CCS for Asia, earlier this year. Chee had taken up the role in 2015 as part of a reshuffle that followed Chin's retirement.
"[Chin's] long and successful tenure with UBS will help the continued build-out of a CCS team that, while integrated with the global franchise and across Asia Pacific, is also strongly rooted in the individuality of each local market and culture," Orcel wrote in the memo.
"This, coupled with his strong internal and client relationships and experience in delivering large and complex transactions will ensure we maximise the opportunities that will materialise from our increasingly diversified business."
Orcel added: "David will also focus on actively reducing bureaucracy and driving empowerment in line with our principles; embedding our culture and strategy fully within the business and ensuring that as a region, we continue to operate with the highest level of integrity; and ensuring clear and full accountability, for both our actions and the choices that we make."
Chin first joined UBS in 1994 and served as head of Asia-Pacific CCS from 2009 to 2015. Last year, he wrote for FinanceAsia reflecting on key developments including the effects of Hong Kong's 1997 handover and the IPO of Bank of China Hong Kong.
Kendall and the CCS team had, Orcel added "fulfilled their mandate of decisively repositioning our Asia business to better align it to both the rapidly changing needs of our clients and a more challenging environment. At the same time as improving core profitability, the team has enhanced our ability to grow, broadened our offering and enhanced our performance outside our main China hub."
Kendall's move to New York would help the global business in a market where UBS had been "historically underweight" in equities. Orcel added.
