Credit Suisse has added two senior women to its private banking research team in Asia-Pacific, the latest in a slew of hires for the bank in the region.

Credit
Suisse has added two senior women to its private banking research team in
Asia-Pacific, the latest in a slew of hires for the Swiss bank.

Chew
Soon Gek has started at Switzerland's second largest bank as head of strategy and economic research in the private bank, Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore.

She is
the latest joiner from the recently-merged Clariden Leu, where she was the head
of portfolio management and investment strategy Asia from 2009. Prior to that,
she was chief investment officer of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management
Asia-Pacific, and CIO of ING Asia Private Bank.

She reports to Fan Cheuk Wan, head of research, Asia-Pacific, for private
banking. In her new role, Chew is responsible for Credit Suisse’s cross asset
class portfolio strategy and macroeconomic research in Asia-Pacific, said the firm in a statement.

Following the merger between Credit Suisse and its smaller rival this month, Chew
will be reunited with around 70 other colleagues, reported here. These include Jimmy Lee, former chief executive of Clariden Leu, now a
Credit Suisse managing director, and Yee Chin Lit, previously a managing
director and head of Southeast Asia at Clariden Leu, now managing director and sector head of the Indonesia market. Both moves were announced this week.

The
three go back a long way, also having worked together at Deutsche
Bank Private Wealth Management.

The bank also announced today that
Kum Soek Ching has rejoined Credit Suisse as head of Southeast Asia equity research,
based in Singapore, reporting to Chew, after a year's absence. 

Kum held the same role from 2005
to mid-2011. Last year, Kum went on extended leave for personal reasons.
During that time, her role was taken over by Eric Guller, who was
previously Credit Suisse’s head of emerging markets and thematic
research for private banking, based in Zurich. Guller has recently taken
on a new senior product specialist role in the multi asset class
solutions group of the bank's asset management business in Asia.

Credit Suisse's ranks are about to grow substantially. In total around 70 staff from Clariden Leu have
joined the private banking division in Asia. As at December 2011, Credit Suisse
had around 360 Asia-Pacific relationship managers, mainly in Hong Kong and
Singapore. Switzerland’s second biggest bank is also in the process of
absorbing HSBC’s Japanese private bank, scheduled to take place this June.