Deutsche Bank Japan head Makoto Kuwahara leaves for Credit Suisse

Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank AG’s Japan chief Makoto Kuwahara will leave the German lender after five years in charge of operations in the country, to join Credit Suisse Group AG.
Kuwahara, who is also president of local unit Deutsche Securities Inc., is departing to pursue other interests, Deutsche Bank said in a statement. He will be replaced by Tamio Honma, head of global markets in Japan and co-head of the institutional client group for Asia-Pacific. Honma, 49, will retain his existing responsibilities, according to the statement.
Kuwahara, 46, is the latest senior departure from Deutsche Bank, which is cutting costs and concentrating more on European customers as part of a global overhaul under Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing. Meanwhile Credit Suisse recently completed a three-year overhaul and is hiring senior executives from its rivals in Asia.
Kuwahara will start his new role in mid-November, based in Tokyo, Credit Suisse said in a separate statement. He will report to the bank’s Asia-Pacific CEO Helman Sitohang.
Southeast Asia vice chairman and Singapore chief Philip Lee is departing to pursue other interests, an internal memo showed earlier this month. In Japan, the bank’s asset management unit chief Daisuke Toki left in June.
Werner Steinmueller, chief executive officer for Asia Pacific and a member of the management board, took an upbeat view of the firm’s business in Japan.