HONG KONG--A top IPO banker at UBS AG has been reinstated after
being suspended amid an internal probe into the hiring of an
employee linked to a Chinese company that awarded business to the
Swiss bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
Joseph Chee, a decadelong veteran at UBS and head of global
capital markets in Asia, was suspended as the bank investigated his
role in the hiring of Joyce Wei, a relative of the head of a
company that has hired UBS to manage its planned public
offering.
The return of Mr. Chee comes as foreign investment banks in Asia
grapple with a U.S.-led investigation into the hiring of connected
recruits in China to win business. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on
Monday was forced to reshuffle its top Chinese investment-banking
executives following the retirement of Fang Fang, who had served as
chief executive of investment banking in China.
Mr. Fang left the bank amid the U.S. investigation into the
bank's hiring practices in China, a probe that has rattled the
investment banking community in a country where the recruiting the
children of connected officials or company executives by banks was
common.
The review at UBS started after the Swiss bank conducted its own
internal probe in the wake of the U.S. investigation. In its sweep,
UBS turned up a "technical breach of process" in the hiring of Ms.
Wei, said a person familiar with the matter, who wouldn't elaborate
further.
Joyce Wei is the daughter of the chairman of Tianhe Chemicals, a
privately owned mainland Chinese company, people familiar with the
matter said in February.
UBS is working closely with Tianhe on its $1 billion Hong Kong
initial public offering, which is expected to take place in the
third quarter. J.P. Morgan walked away from working on the
potential Tianhe deal because it wanted to avoid being accused of
getting the business through Ms. Wei's connections, even though it
started handling the IPO before she joined the firm, people
familiar with the matter said in January.
Ms. Wei is an associate in UBS's equities capital markets team,
which handles share sales for companies across the region, and
joined the Swiss bank in November from J.P. Morgan Chase Co.,
people familiar with the matter said in February. The chemicals
company also considered a London IPO in 2011, but UBS wasn't one of
the banks working with Tianhe at the time. Tianhe is China's
largest producer of lubricant-oil additives and a leading global
producer of specialty fluorochemicals used for purposes such as
making water-repellent surfaces.
Mr. Chee has returned to work in the same position and without
any changes to his role, this person said. A colleague of Mr. Chee,
Sharlyn Wu--who was also put on leave--hasn't yet returned to work,
the person said.
Mr. Chee, a China banker, is of one the most senior executives
in UBS's Asian operations and has played a key role in some of the
region's biggest public offerings in recent years.
UBS was involved in the US$2.8 billion IPO of debt-clearing
agency China Cinda Asset Management Co., which raised US$2.8
billion from a Hong Kong IPO late last year and the around US$2
billion IPO of Thai telecom operator True Telecommunications Growth
Infrastructure Fund.
In January, China ended its moratorium on domestic A-share IPOs.
UBS was an underwriter on one of the four domestic IPOs of Chinese
companies that had foreign bankers since the moratorium was
lifted.
It advised sportswear manufacturer Guirennaio Co, on its 943
million yuan IPO in January.
IPO volumes in Asia Pacific have reached $16.4 billion in the
year so far, the highest year to date level since 2011, according
to data provider Dealogic.
Write to Enda Curran at enda.curran@wsj.com
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