Being a China-connected global banker isn't what it used to be

Don't be surprised to see a few empty corner offices at global investment banks in Asia these days.

Tougher regulations and the rise of Chinese competitors have reduced the initial public offerings and other large China deals being won by US and European banks, a business which yielded US$7 billion in fees last year and has supported a legion of well-heeled bankers in Hong Kong.

As the business has changed, the investment banks are increasingly willing to leave top executive roles vacant and dispense with the services of so-called relationship bankers, who brought in lucrative deals by dint of their extensive networks with China's corporate titans. At the same time, stricter rules have made the roles less appealing for ambitious bankers.

"The regulatory environment is more rigid and each firm is going through a strategic adjustment in different ways, so senior people have become less eager to work at the investment banks in Asia," said David Chin, 47, who stepped down as UBS Group AG's Hong Kong-based head of Asian investment banking in June.

Chin spent 21 years at UBS and worked on deals such as the US$4 billion Hong Kong share sale of China Minsheng Banking Corporation in 2009 and the US$11.2 billion IPO of Bank of China in 2006. He plans to take up a position as a visiting scholar at Cambridge University in the UK in September.

UBS hasn't announced a replacement for Chin.