Nargolwala poached by Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse has poached Standard Chartered director Kai Nargolwala to run its Asia Pacific business.

Mr Nargolwala succeeds Paul Calello, who was promoted to be Credit Suisse's global head of investment banking in May.

Mr Nargolwala had been head of risk at Standard Chartered and a main board director, based in Hong Kong. He will join the Credit Suisse management board and will report to the Swiss bank's Credit Suisse chief executive Brady Dougan. The bank's Asia pacific business will be run by Mr Calello until Mr Nargolwala takes up his position at the start of the new year.

The hire is a significant one for Credit Suisse which is active in all the major markets and is keen to develop investment banking, fund management and private banking operations in the region. The company was involved in the flotations of both ICBC and the China Construction Bank and returned to securities broking in India this year after serving a two-year suspension imposed in 2001.

Credit Suisse was also last month hired to arrange a loan of up to $700m (£350m) for Vietnam Shipping Lines, the state owned port operator, while the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam selected Credit Suisse to help it identify a strategic investor in the business. However, the company has some way to go to catch rivals such as UBS or Goldman Sachs in the region.

Mr Nargolwala is understood to be leaving Standard Chartered, which is focused on emerging markets and has several businesses in the Asia Pacific regions, on good terms.

He is credited with minimising losses due to bad debt at Standard Chartered and helping its drive to extend its operations in the region that included buying businesses in South Korea, China and Taiwan. The bank is listed in London and has a place in the FTSE 100.

Mr Nargolwala, 57, worked at Bank of America for 19 years before joining Standard Chartered.