Nicholson said in an email message that he will remain in the investment banking business, but did not specify which company he was moving to.

 

He joined BOCI in early 2007 – the height of Asia’s equity capital raising boom -from Macquarie Capital. Nicholson was brought in after then chief executive Wang Yan came on board BOCI to  bring forward the bank’s equity capital business, which was at a nascent stage at that time.  Nicholson is believed to have enjoyed a close working relationship with Wang.

 

Not surprising then, after Wang resigned in September 2011, to be replaced by Li Tong, daughter of Li Changchun, a powerful member of the Chinese politburo standing committee of the Communist Party, Nicholson has decided to move out as well.  During his tenure in BOCI, he was the only non-Chinese banker holding senior management post in the bank.

 

In his email, Nicholson says that during his time in BOCI, the bank executed 87 transactions in Hong Kong, helping it  earn an overall ranking of sixth among ECM bookrunners in terms of  proceeds and third  in terms of the number  of transactions .

 

Indeed, after Nicholson joined the firm, BOCI successfully broke through Hong Kong/China’s equity capital market, although it remained behind most of the top foreign bookrunners active in the market. From 2006 to 2010, the bank was ranked among the top four in Hong Kong as a bookrunner in initial public offerings (IPOs) and equity placements, and  number one among all Chinese and Hong Kong-based investment banks.

 

In 2011, the bank ranked sixth in Hong Kong IPO and eighth in the overall ECM business according to data provided by Thomson Reuters.  It is still ranked number one among Chinese and Hong Kong-based investment banks, but that is quickly changing with more Chinese investment banks such as CCB International, CICC and Citic Securities expanding aggressively in this space.