Credit Suisse Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam said on Tuesday the Swiss bank has been “underweight” in China and would look to build its wealth management capabilities in the world’s second-biggest economy, despite slowing growth.

Thiam told a media briefing on the sidelines of the annual Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong that he was not concerned by the slower economic growth in China. The CEO said he saw this as a natural development as the country transforms itself into a consumption-driven economy rather than one led by investment.“We have been underweight (in) China and will continue to invest,” said Thiam, 53, who joined the Zurich-based bank in July 2015. The banker said he would be spending five days in China as part of his current Asia trip, meeting clients and seeking to develop his understanding of their needs.

Thiam’s focus on China comes at a time when Credit Suisse has made wealth management a key plank for its future growth. The bank is also shifting its focus to the Asia-Pacific region, where it already has an important presence in Southeast Asia: Thiam aims to more than double Asia-Pacific pre-tax income to 2.1 billion Swiss francs ($2.19 billion) by 2018.China’s blistering economic growth over the past decade has made it home to a million high-net-worth individuals, according to consultants Bain & Co, twice as many as in 2010. For foreign banks, Asia – and China in particular – has become the new battleground in developing wealth management business.

But making money onshore in China has proved a challenge for most foreign banks, hampered by the heavily protected nature of China’s financial services sector.Credit Suisse currently lacks an onshore license to operate wealth management business in China, but is considering securing one.“Our strategy is primarily driven by wealth management and private banking,” Thiam said. “We have a good customer base. Today we are offshore, but ultimately we will be onshore.”

Novartis is splitting its pharmaceuticals division into two business units, one focused on cancer medicines and the second on the Swiss company’s other drugs, it said on Tuesday, its latest management shake-up within months.David Epstein, division head and chief executive of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, will leave the company to “explore new challenges”, Novartis said in a statement.Novartis’ reorganisation of its main drugs unit, which accounts for about two-thirds of its $49 billion in annual sales, comes as it struggles with the patent expiration of blood cancer drug Glivec and slower-than-expected revenue from its new heart failure medicine, Entresto.

Epstein is the second high-ranking Novartis official to exit within months: Ex-Hospira chief Michael Ball replaced Jeff George at the company’s struggling Alcon eye care business in January as its sales declined again.“Novartis expects this change to help drive our growth and innovation strategy, with an increased focus and improved execution”, the company said in a statement.“The new structure reflects the importance of oncology to Novartis following the successful integration of the oncology assets acquired from GlaxoSmithKline.”Epstein, who took over the pharmaceuticals division in 2010, will be replaced by two people.

Paul Hudson, currently AstraZeneca’s North America head, will run the pharmaceuticals business, and Bruno Strigini, head of Novartis Oncology, will lead the newly created oncology business unit.A Novartis spokesman said on Tuesday that the divisional reshuffle will not result in “big costs,” though he did not name a figure.Additionally, a small number of jobs will be moved as part of the changes to the Basel headquarters from Novartis facilities in New Jersey in the United States.Novartis shares have fallen 16 percent this year.

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition leader V.S Achuthanandan has reportedly been dropped from the CPI(M) Palakkad district committee’s list of top leaders contesting the Assembly election.

According to sources, the CPI (M) Palakkad district committee has recommended the name of CITU leader A. Prabhakaran to contest from the Malampuzha constituency, a sitting seat of V.S Achuthanandan.The CPI (M) had last year initially denied a party ticket to Achuthanandan. However, it later took decision to field the veteran leader from the Malampuzha constituency due to pressure from various quarters.A final decision on the CPI(M)’s candidates\\\' list is likely to be evolved at the party’s state committee meeting tomorrow.The CPI (M) politburo has directed the party Kerala unit to field Achuthanandan in the Assembly election.

New Delhi: Indian stars Irrfan Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Nana Patekar, Shefali Shah and Om Puri will lend voice to characters of Hollywood film \\\"The Jungle Book\\\" for its Hindi dubbed version.Disney India has roped in the actors for the film, which stars Indian-American actor Neel Sethi as Mowgli, and will be releasing in India on April 8 -- a week ahead of its release in the US.Priyanka, who has become popular abroad with American TV show \\\"Quantico\\\" and has landed a role in the \\\"Baywatch\\\" movie, will be infusing life to the soft and hypnotic voice of the python Kaa, voiced by Scarlett Johansson in the English version, read a statement from the studio.

Irrfan, known for his versatile roles in \\\"Piku\\\" as well as on the foreign shores with films like \\\"Life of Pi\\\" and \\\"The Amazing Spider-Man\\\", will lend his voice to the friendly bear Baloo, which is dubbed by Bill Murray in the international version.Shefali, who is still riding high on the appreciation for the modern portrayal of a mother in \\\"Dil Dhadakne Do\\\", will dub for Mowgli\\\'s adoptive mother Raksha, the wolf for whom Lupita Nyong\\\'o has lent her voice in the international version.And veteran star Om Puri will lend his voice to Bagheera, the black panther, which is originally dubbed by legendary actor Ben Kingsley.

The studio has also approached Nana Patekar to once again lend his voice to Shere Khan, a character he had dubbed for back in the early 1990s in Doordarshan\\\'s animated TV series the \\\"Jungle Book: The Adventures of Mowgli\\\".

\\\"\\\'The Jungle Book\\\' is so very special to India, and we want our audience to enjoy Disney\\\'s all-new live-action adaptation. We wanted nothing but the best for the Hindi version of the film,\\\" said Amrita Pandey, vice-president - Studios, Disney India.\\\"We are so excited to have such veterans and A-list actors come together to voice and bring alive these beloved characters making it like a hi-scale Hindi film,\\\" she added.Helmed by \\\"Iron Man\\\" fame director Jon Favreau, the film brings a story straight from the enchanting forest of India and presents a modern take on Rudyard Kipling\\\'s timeless classic, originally published in 1894.

Voters in Germany, France, Sweden and Finland think Britain should not be given a generous deal when it tries to renegotiate its ties with the European Union, an opinion poll published on Friday showed.Germans and the French were most opposed to helping Britain out: 53 percent of respondents in both countries said it should not expect any favors compared with 27 percent who said the EU should offer Britain a generous deal, polling firm YouGov said.Furthermore, nearly half of voters in the two EU heavyweight countries said they would support a free trade deal with Britain only if Britain agreed to continue to allow EU citizens to live and work in the country.Opposition to the EU’s free movement of workers principle was one of the main campaign messages of those who wanted Britain to leave the bloc, a decision British voters backed in a referendum on June 23.Britain has yet to notify the EU formally of its plan to leave, a step which would kick off a period of up to two years for its exit to be completed.

The front-runner to become Britain’s next prime minister, interior minister Theresa May, has said she wants to hold informal talks with the EU about the outlines of a deal before launching the two-year exit period.Of five continental EU countries covered by YouGov’s poll, only voters in Denmark favored offering Britain a generous deal, the polling firm said.YouGov interviewed 2,045 people in Germany, 1,008 people in France and around 1,000 people in each of Sweden, Finland and Denmark between June 30 and July 5.