Charles Lin, who was hired in April 2020 to the top role at CLSA, resigned from the Hong Kong-headquartered investment bank earlier this month, but will serve as the vice chairman of its board until this month-end, a company spokesman said.

Lin resigned for "personal reasons", according to the spokesman.

Chunbo Li, parent firm Citic's head of research, equity distribution and trading department, has been appointed as the chairman of CLSA, the spokesman said.

A source with knowledge of Lin's move told Reuters that Lin was pursuing another opportunity in the industry. Lin did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Lin, who was the former Asia head of U.S. asset manager Vanguard Group before joining CLSA, was hired to help the Chinese brokerage to establish an international presence.

CLSA lost its last CEO Rick Gould in August 2020, after he helmed the role for only 16 months. The company has since removed the role from their organisational structure.

(Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

By Selena Li