Morning Coffee: Rise of the hybrid IBD/commercial banking job in Asia

Led by UBS and Credit Suisse, banks in Asia have recently been trying to better link their wealth management and investment banking arms to give entrepreneurial private clients easier access to M&A and capital-markets services.

Now Citi’s commercial banking unit in Asia is attempting to do a similar thing, but across multiple teams, by appointing Eric Au as director of capital markets for Asia Pacific, reports Finance Asia. Don’t let Au’s rather focused job title fool you – he is tasked with fostering greater cooperation between different divisions of the firm, including capital markets origination, corporate and investment banking, and commercial banking.

Ken Poon, Citi’s head of capital markets origination for Asia, said in a note that the bank is increasingly identifying opportunities to raise capital for clients across equity, bond and loan markets. With Western investment banks now finding it hard to make advisory money as Chinese corporates take M&A strategy teams in-house, the need to identify client-servicing opportunities across all divisions has never been greater. Expect more senior “hybrid” appointments like Au’s to crop up in the future.

Meanwhile:

What HSBC and other global lenders could learn from Singaporean banks. (Asia One)

Singapore M&A deals fall sharply in Q2. (Business Times)

Roller coaster ride for mainland investors continues. (South China Morning Post)

Credit Suisse sets sights on UBS in battle over private banking. (Bloomberg)

New wealth management “dating” service launches in Singapore. (Yahoo!)