Manisha Girotra quits Swiss major UBS

Source :TNN | Nov 10, 2011, 01.45AM IST

MUMBAI: Manisha Girotra, the glamorous face of many merger and acquisition deals, is leaving Swiss banking giant UBS AG where she was the chairperson and managing director of the India unit

. Aashish Kamat will replace Girotra, who is parting ways with UBS by mutual consent. Her exit comes at a bad time for Switzerland's largest bank, which has struggled with the impact of the US subprime crisis and a recently unearthed multi-billion dollar trading fraud. 

The 42-year-old Girotra's exit from UBS has been a subject of speculation in recent weeks, and it escalated last weekend when she did not turn up for a high-profile social event which was attended by corporate honchos and her banking peers. 

Sources said Girotra may be headed for an entrepreneurial role in the private wealth management or private equity industry. She is unlikely to join a competing firm. Girotra did not respond to phone calls on Wednesday night. 

Girotra boarded the Swiss bank in the late '90s and has been its face since then. She was involved with several big cross-border acquisitions when India Inc went hunting for overseas assets in recent years.

 She figured in some of the early privatization deals, including government's strategic disinvestment of petrochemicals firm IPCL and its subsequent merger with Reliance Industries. Girotra was also involved with Vodafone's acquisition of Hutchison Essar, United Spirits' buyout of Whyte & Mackay and Hindalco's deal to acquire Novellis. 

An alumnus of Delhi School of Economics, Girotra started her career with ANZ Grindlays in London and later worked with Barclays. 


UBS has been the biggest European casualty of the US subprime crisis which has seen the bank suffer cumulative pre-tax losses of around $65 billion in the last three years.


 The ongoing Eurozone crisis , trading fraud and the weak M&A activity have posed more challenges to the bank known for its mainstay investment banking unit. In August, UBS axed 3,500 jobs in a cost cutting move aimed at saving $2.5 billion annually. 


The softening on the deal making industry saw UBS facing a tough year in the Indian M&A and equity capital markets business, with several senior honchos leaving the firm in recent months.