DI HE, a long-term member of UBS, will step down as chairman of the board of UBS Securities Company Limited (UBSS), according to an internal note seen by The Asset.

Effective immediately, Eugene Qian is taking over as the chairman and Ken Chen has been appointed as the general manager of UBSS in addition to his role as head of equities.

Di, who joined UBS in 1997, was the first head of China for the UBS Investment Banking division, and has been vice chairman of Investment Banking Asia since 2003. He has been central to UBS's key developments in China, such as driving the QFII program with UBS becoming the first QFII holder, UBS’s investment in Bank of China, leading the establishment of UBSS and most recently, gaining 51% control of UBSS. Di will stay on as senior advisor of UBS until March 2020 to ensure a smooth transition.

Qian rejoined UBS in June 2015, first as group country head for China and a member of UBS's Asia-Pacific Executive Committee (APEC), and was president of UBSS since the end of 2017. In addition to the chairman role, Qian will continue representing China at UBS's APEC and country head committee. He has 25 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry, and played a leadership role in charting UBS's China strategy and leading UBSS in achieving a number of key milestones in the last four years.

Chen rejoined the firm as head of equities of UBSS in August 2017. With more than 20 years of investment banking experience, he worked for UBS and managed the equities business in mainland China from 2008 to 2010 and in Taiwan from 2005 to 2008.‎ He will work closely with Qian to drive the UBSS strategy and manage key relationships with the government, regulators, shareholders and clients.

“China remains a key market for UBS. We are determined to strengthen our leadership position in the investment bank and further build our wealth and asset management businesses there. The performance of UBSS is a key factor in realizing these goals. With the solid foundation laid by Di, I am confident that Eugene, Ken and the rest of the management team will take UBSS to another level of success,” says David Chin, head of corporate client solutions, Asia-Pacific, UBS.