Hong Kong’s Noble Group has hired former Goldman Sachs partner Yusuf Alireza as its chief executive. The announcement comes as little surprise. Alireza quit Goldman in mid-November, just days after Noble’s previous chief executive Ricardo Leiman resigned, and it was widely expected that he would end up at Noble. (Finance Asia)

UBS said on Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit had slumped 76 per cent from a year earlier, as money entering its wealth management unit did not make up for a loss in investment banking. (New York Times)

Singapore workers can expect an average salary increase of between three to six per cent this year, according to the latest survey by multinational recruitment firm Hays. (Asia One)

New yuan deposits at Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) in the past two months jumped four times from a year back, although total yuan deposits in the city fell in December at a pace similar to that in the 2008 financial tsunami. (The Standard)

China lone BRIC among top emerging markets. (Bloomberg)

National Australia Bank, the Australian owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, is reviewing the future of its UK business as a result of the “recent reversal” in the UK economy – raising fears for up to 8,500 jobs. (The Guardian)