Credit Suisse Group AG is trying to keep its private bank in Hong Kong open, with more resignations coming amid the Swiss lender’s crisis.
According to people familiar with the case who asked not to be identified because they were sharing private information, Luke Chiu, a managing director and China market head, has resigned from the bank.
Nelson Hui, a director and team leader for China, has also quit, as have two relationship managers. A Credit Suisse spokesperson, like Chiu, declined to comment. Hui was unavailable for comment, according to the sources.
According to persons acquainted with the situation, Steven Lau, a director on the Hong Kong team, quit a few weeks ago and is joining a competing business. This follows the resignations of two prominent private bankers last month.
After a weekend of feverish Twitter speculation about the Swiss banking behemoth’s financial health, shares in the Swiss banking giant fell 12% to an all-time low on Monday, before recovering nearly all of the losses later in the day. This was accompanied by an increase in the cost of insuring the bank’s debt against default, which reached an all-time high.
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Credit Suisse has plans to expand on the Chinese mainland, employing private banker Wang Jing from China Merchants Bank Co. to strengthen its onshore wealth management business in 2020. However, the bank has not yet received formal authorisation to provide services to affluent mainland Chinese clients.
While it has outlined plans to expand its wealth unit by focusing on markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore, the bank has become a poaching ground for rivals amid the turmoil.
