Headhunters seek China banking specialists to buffer against crisis

Hong Kong

EVEN as investment banks cut jobs across Asia, they are hiring staff to help China's lenders reinforce buffers against a financial crisis.

Difficulty finding bankers with Chinese language skills and relevant expertise is also forcing firms to "re-tool" existing employees with training, global headhunting firm Sheffield Haworth said. There has never been more at stake after Chinese lenders raised a record US$62.8 billion selling US dollar bonds in 2016. Rating companies said that they will need to sell more debt with equity characteristics to replenish capital this year.

"Banks are keen to hire financial institution specialists within their debt teams as many anticipate a potential wave of hybrid capital issuance," said William Bown, a Hong Kong-based executive director for global banking at Sheffield Haworth. "Historically, the specialists with knowledge of bank capital have been flown in from markets like Europe or Australia. But banks increasingly have t…