UBS India investment banking head resigns

Swiss bank UBS's head of India investment banking, Ashok Mittal, has resigned, a spokesman for the bank said on Tuesday.

The departure of Mittal, who was named the head of India investment banking at UBS in June of last year, was an isolated incident and there were no other senior-level departures at the India unit at this time, said Mark Panday, Hong Kong-based spokesman for UBS.

Mittal was not immediately available for comment. Prior to joining UBS, he was with Lehman Brothers and had worked as co-head of India investment banking at HSBC.

His resignation follows two high-profile departures from the bank's India unit last year.

UBS's head of India operations, Manisha Girotra, resigned in November of last year. The bank appointed Aashish Kamat, who was its chairman of financial institutions coverage in Asia Pacific, to replace her as chief executive for India.

The Zurich-based bank's India equity capital markets head, Purvesh Shah, also left the bank last year to join British bank Barclays.

UBS unveiled plans on Tuesday to wind down its fixed income business and fire 10,000 bankers as it adapts to tougher capital rules that make it more difficult for investment banks to turn a profit in the wake of the financial crisis.

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