According to persons familiar with the situation, Neelkanth Mishra, co-head of Asia Pacific strategy at Credit Suisse Group AG, has quit and is expected to join Mumbai-based Axis Bank Ltd.
Mishra, a two-decade veteran of the Swiss bank, has agreed to lead Axis Bank’s research department, according to people who asked not to be identified since the information is confidential. According to the bank’s website, he is a member of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Economic Advisory Council and the head of research at Credit Suisse’s local subsidiary.
The hire is part of Axis Bank Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaudhry’s ambitions to strengthen the lender’s different divisions, including wealth management and investment banking, which hit a record high earlier this year. Earlier this month, the financier finalized the $1.4 billion purchase of Citigroup Inc.’s India retail banking unit.
Axis Bank wouldn’t say anything, and Credit Suisse didn’t answer emails or phone calls asking for a comment on Mishra’s departure.Mishra did not reply to requests for comments by email or text message.
A succession of blowups, scandals, leadership changes, and legal challenges have battered Switzerland’s second-largest institution in recent years, and numerous top bankers have left in recent months. According to an exchange filing earlier this month, Ashish Gupta, the former head of India equity research at Credit Suisse, has joined Axis Mutual Fund as chief investment officer.
