UBS UBS Group AG

By Brian Blackstone

UBS Group AG (UBS) has turned to its crosstown rival Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) for its new head of Swiss investment banking, a key post in UBS's home market.

UBS has appointed Marco Illy to head its investment bank in Switzerland. Mr. Illy was previously chairman of corporate and investment banking at Credit Suisse.

"Marco Illy's appointment comes at an important time for our business, as we look to further build upon and strengthen our platform," according to a memo Wednesday seen by The Wall Street Journal and which's content was confirmed by the bank. Mr. Illy will report to Andrea Orcel, head of the investment bank, and Axel Lehmann, who runs Swiss operations.

Mr. Illy helped build up Credit Suisse's investment banking business over three decades with deals that, according to the memo, included Nestle's divestiture of Alcon, the sale of Actelion to Johnson & Johnson and more than 50 IPOs in Switzerland.

Two years ago, Mr. Illy moved into the role of chairman of corporate and investment banking at Credit Suisse, a client-focused role that didn't involve active management of the division. His position at Credit Suisse won't be replaced, said a Credit Suisse spokesman.

Although both UBS and Credit Suisse have scaled back investment banking in recent years in favor of wealth management, it is still an important source of revenue and helps to generate business for wealth management. The investment banking unit of UBS earned 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.5 billion) in adjusted, pretax operating profit last year.

Mr. Illy will start at UBS in December.

Write to Brian Blackstone at brian.blackstone@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 09, 2018 10:50 ET (14:50 GMT)

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