Khan’s Credit Suisse exit deepens Zurich talent war

Bloomberg

The abrupt departure of a potential heir apparent at Credit Suisse Group AG marks a compelling twist in the power plays transfixing Zurich’s intimate private banking world.
Iqbal Khan’s leaving as head of Credit Suisse’s international wealth-management unit confirmed persistent speculation that he’d been in talks with crosstown rivals including UBS Group AG and Julius Baer Ltd. The executive is departing immediately — though there was no statement on his future role — removing a contender to succeed Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam and a driving force at one of the Zurich-based bank’s biggest profit generators.
His exit is a further sign of the intense competition among Switzerland’s top wealth managers to attract — and keep — their best private bankers as they accelerate a push towards managing money for the world’s wealthy.
Khan, known for his smooth investor presentations and quick ascent through the ranks of Credit Suisse, was responsible for perhaps the bank’s
most important unit as he spearheaded the push to win more wealthy clients in areas such as the Middle East and Latin America.
The executive, 43, could be poised to take a post atop smaller rival Julius Baer Group, Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger reported, citing unidentified people in the financial industry.
Julius Baer hasn’t made any statement and a spokesman said the bank won’t comment on speculation. Philipp Wehle, the wealth unit’s chief financial officer, takes over from Khan.
It’s the latest high-profile departure among ambitious executives to shake up the Swiss banking world. Andrea Orcel, a star UBS investment banker, left the lender in September in a bid to become chief executive officer of Banco Santander SA. That offer was later rescinded in a dispute over pay.
UBS also lost wealth management head Juerg Zeltner while Julius Baer is still said
to be seeking a more permanent replacement for former CEO Boris Collardi, who moved to Geneva-based bank Pictet
& Cie.
If Khan does go to Julius Baer, he would reunite with Romeo Lacher, a former Credit Suisse banker who became chairman of the smaller firm in April. The pair once worked closely together, and Khan has been on a shortlist of candidates to potentially replace
the firm’s CEO, Bernhard Hodler, people familiar with the matter said.
Speculation had been swirling for months that Khan might leave Credit Suisse. He joined the bank in his late 30s after a rapid ascent through the ranks of Ernst & Young‘s Zurich-based assurance division, where he audited UBS Group AG. He joined Credit
Suisse in 2013 and was named head of the bank’s international wealth-management unit when it was created.