Credit Suisse is bulking up its Asia private banking business with internal promotions.

Credit Suisse has named new private banking heads for Asia Pacific, the region it considers "its fastest growing international business."

Marcel Kreis assumes the role of chairman of private banking Asia Pacific effective 1 January 2012. Previously head of private banking, he will be succeeded by Francesco de Ferrari, who will relocate to the region from Europe on 1 August. Until he starts in the new role, de Ferrari will be based in Singapore as deputy head of private banking Asia Pacific. 

De Ferrari has been part of the Swiss bank since 2002 and most recently served as head of private banking for Italy. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer for private banking in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. 

The moves come as the company bulks up its wealth management operations in the region, which it says is "among the fastest-growing of Credit Suisse's international wealth businesses." Over the last three years, AsiaPac delivered about 20 per cent growth in net new assets per annum, translating to approximately CHF36 billion. Asia accounts for more than a quarter of the bank's global net new assets total.

"Asia offers tremendous potential and is experiencing rapid wealth creation," said Osama Abbasi, the chief executive for Asia Pacific, in a statement. "Our private banking business is critical to delivering a client-focused franchise."

De Ferrari will report both to Abbasi and to Walter Berchtold, the chief executive for private banking. 

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second largest bank, joins a string of peers expanding in Asia where the population of millionaires this year overtook that of Europe for the first time on record, according to a study from Merrill Lynch and CapGemini. 

The private banking divisions of JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Standard Chartered, HSBC and Barclays have outlined aggressive hiring sprees in the race to recruit top talent. Many, like Credit Suisse, are resorting to internal promotions, graduate training programmes or hiring from other divisions like the investment bank or asset management arms, as they struggle to find enough experienced private bankers to match their recruitment plans. 

Shayne Nelson, chief executive of Standard Chartered Private Bank, told WealthBriefingAsia in an interview this month that finding talented relationship managers was one of the biggest challenges banks in the region are facing.