Citigroup has hired Simon Yuan as a managing director and head of its group of investment bankers advising financial institutions (FIG) across China, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia.
Before joining Citi, Yuan was managing director and co-head of Asia FIG at Credit Suisse.
Yuan will be based in Hong Kong, reporting to Will McLane and Catherine Cai. The addition of Yuan is part of Citi’s build out of FIG in China at a time when deal-making is picking up.
During the first quarter of the year the value of equity capital market deals in China hit an all time high of $34.5 billion, according to Dealogic, helped by Chinese brokers raising funds to bolster margin financing as stock markets surge and sell downs by banks struggling with regulatory constraints on capital.
Industrial Bank’s $2.1bn follow-on, priced on February 10, was the largest Chinese A-share ECM deal since April 2014.
China DCM volume also increased to $108.2 billion in the first quarter, bolstered by Chinese banks raising regulatory compliant capital. On March 6 Agricultural Bank of China priced a $6.5 billion preferred share in what stands as the third largest tier-1 capital deal on record.
The transactions boosted CNY denominated tier capital volume to $14.5 billion year-to-date, up 58% from the $6.7 billion raised in the same period last year and the highest year-to-date level on record.
Also ANZ priced a $407 million tier-2 capital bond on January 21, the first CNY-denominated tier capital by non-Chinese FIG issuer on record.
Citi has been bolstering its China and FIG teams of late. The US bank hired Catherine Cai as chairman and head of China investment banking in March from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She replaced Roger Zhu who retired in January. Citi hired McLane in 2012.
Yuan’s background
Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Yuan worked at Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC, in Hong Kong and Beijing.
During his investment banking career Yuan has established many senior relationships with financial regulators and key clients in China and across the Asia Pacific region, Citi’s memo said.
Yuan holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS in management science from Fudan University.
