Extremely laid back UBS legend is now reclining for a while
It has been brought to our attention that Vinod Vasan, a former UBS banker known simultaneously for his boyish good looks, his high IQ and his critical role in propping up the British banking system, has left.
It's thought that he will be spending time with his family. He should have no problem adjusting, because former colleagues say Vasan is also extremely laid back.
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We have not spoken to Vasan for this article, but his departure from UBS was reported yesterday by International Financing Review. Vasan began his career three decades ago at Macquarie in Australia and is a qualified lawyer, qualified accountant and a tax specialist who fortunately found his way into banking as a financial institutions group (FIG) specialist.
UBS moved Vasan to London from its Australian operation in the early 2000s. In 2009, in the throes of the financial crisis in the UK, Vasan was UBS's head of FIG debt capital markets for EMEA. He was part of the UBS group led by Alex Wilmot-Sitwell which recapitalised Lloyds when it faced a ÂŁ21bn capital shortfall on the FSA's strengthened stress test.
Vasan's solution was to create hybrid "CoCo" debt which would convert to equity if Lloyds' core tier one capital ratio fell below 5%, thereby pushing Lloyds' tier one equity capital ratio back up above 6.5% if the situation demanded it. The FT later credited Vasan with helping to develop CoCos. Vasan told the FT the bonds had been bought by hedge fund and retail investors, as well as by real money and insurers. Former colleagues say Vasan's innovation helped Lloyds tap the market and so reduced the size of its government bailout.
Vasan spent six years at Deutsche Bank, where he was global co-head of DCM origination. He returned to UBS in 2016 as vice chairman of global banking.
Former colleagues from the Swiss bank say that Vasan is an "insane operator with an unbelievably high IQ." He was known by some there as "Jenga" because in his absence things fall apart. Hopefully, for UBS, this is no longer so.
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