Credit Suisse' Neelkanth Mishra quits, set to join Axis Bank

Neelkanth Mishra, co-head of Asia Pacific strategy and head of securities research of Credit Suisse in India, has quit from his position, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the development.

Mishra who has almost two-and-a-half decades of experience is set to join Mumbai-based Axis Bank Ltd. The hiring is part of Axis Bank chief executive officer Amitabh Chaudhry’s plans to bolster various businesses including the wealth management and investment banking business of the lender, whose share price touched a record high earlier this year. The financier had also completed the acquisition of Citigroup Inc.’s India retail banking business for $1.4 billion earlier this month, the report said.

Mishra has worked on metals & mining, Indian pharmaceuticals, Taiwan IC design, semiconductor foundries, and Asian tech strategy research. Before Credit Suisse, he was a senior technical architect with Infosys Technologies. He has also worked with Hindustan Lever Limited and pursued an entrepreneurial career.

Mishra is a part of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India and has been an advisor to several government committees like the Fifteenth Finance Commission and the India Semiconductor Mission. He also advises businesses and has been part of the Economic Affairs Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry for the past few years.

Mishra holds a BTech degree in computer science and engineering from IIT, Kanpur.

Recently many senior bankers have left Credit Suisse, the second-largest lender in Switzerland as the company suffered from several blowups, scandals, leadership changes, and legal challenges over the past few years. Earlier this month, Ashish Gupta, the former head of India equity research at Credit Suisse, also joined Axis Mutual Fund as chief investment officer, according to an exchange filing. Gupta left Credit Suisse in November last year after spending around 14 years.