David Wah, a senior investment banker and 30-year veteran of Credit Suisse Group AG, resigned from UBS Group AG, which took over the bank earlier this month.
(Bloomberg) — David Wah, a senior investment banker and 30-year veteran of Credit Suisse Group AG, resigned from UBS Group AG, which took over the bank earlier this month.
Wah, who had most recently been global head of investment banking within Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking & Capital Markets division, or IBCM, notified the firm that he was leaving, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News, which didn’t say what his next move would be.
“His leadership of the tech business created one of IBCM’s strongest franchises, with landmark IPOs and M&A deals with some of the highest-profile tech companies throughout his tenure,” Michael Ebert, head of Credit Suisse for the investment bank, said in the memo. “His impact cannot be adequately summarized here, but we are grateful that he has agreed to help during the transition.”
A UBS spokesperson and Wah didn’t respond to a request for comment. A Credit Suisse spokesperson confirmed the contents of the memo.
The bank also announced “transition co-heads” in its three main regions. David Kostel and Marc Warm will serve as transition co-heads in the Americas, while Michael Furber and Jonathan Grundy will have the same roles in Europe and Kuan-Ern Tan and Christian Deiss will handle those duties in the Asia-Pacific region.
Ebert added that all Credit Suisse group heads with current global roles should continue to carry out their responsibilities and “more details will come shortly on the changes in reporting lines.”
Credit Suisse exodus
Before the UBS deal was finalized, several of Wah’s longtime colleagues had decamped for rivals, including blank-check banker Niron Stabinsky and Steve Geller, former global head of investment-banking mergers and acquisitions, who went to Banco Santander SA. London-based senior banker Giuseppe Monarchi departed for Evercore Inc. and former global head of sponsors Malcolm Price was hired by Wells Fargo & Co.
Wah started his career as an associate at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP before joining Credit Suisse in 1992, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Over the years, Wah has advised some of the firm’s biggest technology clients such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Dell International Inc., and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
He was also instrumental in the Michael Klein-backed deal for CS First Boston to become independent from Credit Suisse, a plan which fell apart after the UBS takeover.
UBS is planning to cut more than half of Credit Suisse’s 45,000-strong workforce starting next month, Bloomberg reported this week.
–With assistance from Marion Halftermeyer.
(Updates with details from memo starting in sixth paragraph)
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