Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-largest bank, hired Kai Nargolwala, Standard Chartered Plc's head of credit risk, as Asian chief executive officer.

Nargolwala, 57, resigned today from Standard Chartered, the London-based bank that earns most of its profit in Asia. He replaces Paul Calello, who was promoted in May to Credit Suisse's global head of investment banking. Nargolwala will be based in Hong Kong and start in January 2008, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement today.

Nargolwala, credited with minimizing loan losses at Standard Chartered and driving an Asian push that included acquisitions in Taiwan, South Korea and China, spent nine years at the bank. His regional contacts, including Bharti Airtel Ltd. Chairman Sunil Mittal and Temasek Holdings Pte Executive Director Simon Israel, may help Credit Suisse win clients and expand into new markets.

``His knowledge of the region, his very clear strategic vision, which he set out for his former employer, and his ability to execute on that vision have been extraordinary,'' Calello said in an interview today in Hong Kong. ``Those are the key characteristics that make him an outstanding candidate.''

Nargolwala will report to Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan and will join the executive board. Calello, Asia-Pacific CEO since 2002, will be interim CEO of the region until Nargolwala takes over, the release said.

Nargolwala wasn't available for comment. He will help Credit Suisse integrate the bank's investment banking, private banking and asset management services in Asia, with more than half the world's population and two of its fastest-growing major economies, China and India. He will also help Credit Suisse expand into new markets such as Vietnam, Pakistan and India, Calello said.

`Client Relationships'

``Without a doubt, our priority is our client relationships,'' said Calello.

Credit Suisse returned to securities brokerage in India this year. It was suspended from trading for two years in 2001 because the regulator found evidence of price manipulation on trades.

Vietnam National Shipping Lines, a state-owned port operator, last month hired Credit Suisse to arrange a loan for as much as $700 million. The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, the country's second-biggest commercial bank by assets, chose Credit Suisse in February to help it find a strategic investor.

Credit Suisse said in February it will resume equity brokerage services in Pakistan after a gap of five years. The bank also plans to set up an equity-research business in the country this year amid a stock market surge. The country's KSE 100 Index has risen more than 10-fold since 2001.

Booming Economies

India's gross domestic product expanded 9.3 percent in the three months to June 30, surpassed only by China's 12 percent growth. Vietnam, a country of 100 million people, had 7.9 percent growth, while Pakistan's economy expanded 7 percent. U.S. GDP growth was 1.9 percent.

Nargolwala joins Credit Suisse as it tries to get beyond departures in Asia this year, with more than 20 investment bankers joining competitors. Colin Banfield, head of mergers and acquisitions in Asia, is leaving the bank after 16 years to take up a similar post at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., two bankers familiar with his decision said yesterday.

The company has trailed rivals such as Zurich-based UBS AG and New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in arranging share sales and advising on takeovers in Asia.

Credit Suisse ranks eighth in arranging stock sales in the Asia-Pacific region this year, the same as in 2006, data compiled by Bloomberg show. In mergers and acquisitions, the bank ranks ninth, improving from 13th in 2006.

Acquisition Trail

During his stint at Standard Chartered, Nargolwala helped drive the bank's $1.2 billion purchase of Taiwan's Hsinchu International Bank and $487 million acquisition of Pakistan's Union Bank Ltd. last year. A year earlier, the bank paid $3.3 billion to take over Korea First Bank and bought a 20 percent stake in newly set up Bohai Bank in China for $123 million.

The departure is a loss for Standard Chartered because Nargolwala and Finance Director Richard Meddings ``massively improved'' the bank's risk structures in the last five years, said Simon Maughan, a London-based analyst at MF Global Securities Ltd., who doesn't have an investment rating on the stock.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered, Nargolwala worked for Bank of America Corp., the second biggest bank in the U.S., for 19 years, most recently as the head of its wholesale banking operations based in Hong Kong.

Born in India

Nargolwala was a board member of Standard Chartered since 1999, where Mittal, head of India's largest mobile-phone operator, also sits. In addition to his seat on the bank's board, Nargolwala is a director of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., sitting alongside Temasek's Israel, who helps run the city state's $85 billion government-backed investment fund.

Nargolwala holds a Bachelors degree in economics from the University of Delhi, India. Now based in Singapore, he resigned as director and head of market and credit risks at Standard Chartered today. He was born in India and is a citizen of U.K. and a permanent resident of Singapore.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at Kchan14@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 6, 2007 12:55 EDT