(Adds details) Private Capital  |  China HONG KONG, April 29 (Reuters) – Citigroup’s (C.N) former AsiaCEO Robert Morse on Wednesday said he has launched a HongKong-based financial services firm with $1 billion undermanagement, together with two former colleagues. Morse and former HSBC (0005.HK) Asia investment banking headHuan Guocang are co-chairmen of the firm, Primus FinancialHoldings. They planned to build a financial group with financialadvisory, wealth management and private equity services, Morsesaid. Wing-Fai Ng, currently managing partner of Primus PacificPartners, will be co-CEO of the new firm with Morse. Huan and Ng are co-founders of Primus Pacific Partners, andwith Morse aboard and $1 billion in capital, the three plan tomake Primus Financial a full-fledged financial services firm.

Morse told Reuters that the $1 billion under management camefrom a single investor. Morse, who had overseen Citigroup’s rapid expansion andinvestment in China in the past decade, left the U.S. bank inAugust 2008 after 23 years at what was once the world’s biggestfinancial services provider. His formal title was chief executive of Citigroup’s AsiaPacific institutional clients group. Before moving to the Asiapost in 2004, Morse had been head of global investment banking atCitigroup.

He was also chief executive of Salomon Smith Barney’sAsia-Pacific operations in 1997 and 1998. More former investment bankers are stepping up to launchtheir own funds after being laid off or resigning in thefinancial crisis as payrolls for top bankers shrink. Mount Kellett Capital Management, a private equity firm runby former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) partner Mark McGoldrick, hasraised at least $1.5 billion and is on the hunt for investments,Reuters reported in January. [ID:nHKG151908] (Reporting by George Chen and Michael Flaherty; Editing by ChrisLewis) Private Capital China. Benin manager Reinhard Fabisch has revealed to BBC News and other leading European media outlets that he was offered a lucrative amount of money to “manipulate” the outcome of the match between Mali-Benin in a Group B fixture at the African Cup Of Nations.The news was made shortly after Mali won by a scoreline of 1-0, thanks in a large part to a Fredric Kanoute penalty that sealed Benin's fate. According to Fabisch, he was approached by someone in his hotel room who claimed ties to a group in Singapore that organized international friendlies and training camps.”He said he worked for people in Asia who were ready to pay $20,000 if I could manipulate the result of a match,” said a shocked Fabish.