Wei Wei Zhao, a key member of Henry Cai's China investment banking team at Deutsche Bank, has been hired by Citi, sources said.
Zhao has been appointed as a managing director of Citi's China investment banking team, working under Rodney Tsang and Eugene Qian, co-heads of global banking for China. She will focus on covering industrial sectors in China and will be based in Hong Kong.
Zhao joined Deutsche Bank's China investment banking team in 2010 from UBS in a move following the high-profile transfer of Cai, who had been hired by the German bank as chairman of corporate finance for Asia.
Cai joined Deutsche Bank from UBS, where he was chairman of Asia investment banking and head of China investment banking, to replace Lee Zhang – Deutsche's former top investment banker in China. Zhang was appointed by the Chinese government to lead the nation's top lender ICBC.
Zhao was a managing director at Deutsche Bank, and before that she was a managing director of investment banking and chief representative of UBS's Shanghai office. She is well-known in the banking circle for her excellence in client origination and management skills.
“The appointment underlines our commitment to add key talent to serve our growing China client base. China is a key market for Citi's global banking franchise and this hire further demonstrates our commitment to our clients as the leading global investment bank in China,” a spokesman at Citi said.
Last year was the busiest year on record for Citi, the bank helped launch 11 Chinese IPOs globally, according to Dealogic. The bank launched the first sizable IPO in Hong Kong this year – China Kingstone Mining's $167 million share sale.
