Credit Suisse has announced the launch of its operations in Pakistan through a wholly owned subsidiary, Credit Suisse Pakistan (Private) Limited based in Karachi. It will initially offer equity research and research sales to institutional clients, and aims to expand its operations to full broking-dealing services.
“Today’s launch is evidence of our strong commitment to Pakistan and signals our intent to serve as a bridge between Pakistan and the international investor community,” says Kai Nargolwala, CEO of Credit Suisse in Asia Pacific. “We will continue to develop our research and sales platform, with a view to offer our institutional clients full scale broker-dealer services in the first half of 2009.”
Farid Ahmed Khan, Director at Credit Suisse, will lead the efforts to grow the Bank’s equities business in Pakistan. Khan joined Credit Suisse in 2007 from MCB Asset Management Company, and has previously worked in Malaysia, Turkey and the UK for major international financial institutions. Credit Suisse has already put in place a research team for Pakistan, with active coverage of the country’s equity market.
“We are very excited about the opportunities that Pakistan holds and believe the country’s solid fundamentals will continue to attract international investor interest in the future,” Nargolwala says.