According to reports out of Switzerland in a move that will have impact on the Asian operations of two private banks, BSI Bank have lured chief investment officer Yves Bonzon away from Bank Pictet.

BTG Pactual who acquired BSI last July in a CHF 1.5 billion deal is expected to continue to invest and expand the BSI brand using it as the main wealth management vehicle for the BTG Pactual group. The Asian operations of BSI under CEO Hanspeter Brunner are expected to be a focal point of that growth.

On the legal front Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has hired Shuang Zhao in Hong Kong. Zhao was previously a partner at Shearman & Sterling, he advises Chinese companies and financial institutions on a range of equity and debt offerings in the U.S. and Hong Kong, as well as on corporate governance and regulatory matters.

In Singapore Global risk advisor and insurance broker Willis Group, has appointed David Chan as Asia head of affinity and small and medium-sized enterprises and Cedric Luah as Asia head of human capital and benefits.

Also in Singapore Chung Shaw Bee is reported to have left Standard Chartered Bank to take up a senior wealth management position with local bank UOB.

HSBC have announced the appointment of Steven Cranwell as head of commercial banking, Singapore. Cranwell takes over from Kelvin Tan, who has been appointed chief executive officer for HSBC in Thailand.

Meanwhile heading out of Asia, Barclays is moving one of its top prime brokerage executives, Nathan Davison, from Hong Kong to London. Davison, who heads prime brokerage sales in Asia will expand his role to also cover Europe.