Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean state-owned investment company, has hired the former chief financial officer of UBS to run its European division.

John Cryan joined the firm last week in the newly-created role as Temasek seeks to expand the senior management ranks of its European business, the firm said in a statement.

"We continue to evolve and grow to support our strategy and anticipate the opportunities and challenges ahead of us. John Cryan adds depth to our bench strength, bringing with him considerable experience and capabilities to our senior leadership focus on markets," a Temasek spokesman said. The firm could not confirm where he will be based at this point. 

Cryan, who has been credited with enabling UBS' 2008 government bailout, has 19 years of experience in providing strategic and financial advice to a wide range of companies in the financial services sector globally, the investment firm said on its website. Before his two year stint as the group CFO of UBS, Cryan was global head of the financial institutions group at UBS' investment bank and chief executive of UBS Limited. He has also served as chairman and CEO of UBS’ Europe, Middle East and Africa business.

Cryan left UBS in mid-2011, prior to a number of senior defections, including that of former group chief executive Oswald Grübel in the autumn of last year. Grübel resigned in September, following a $2.3 billion loss caused by unauthorised trading at the firm’s investment bank in London. Headhunters say that some of the departures have been triggered by lacklustre executive pay levels and ongoing question marks over the future of the investment bank. 

Last November UBS confirmed large-scale reductions at its investment banking operations, including slashing its risk-weighted assets in investment banking by around 50 per cent to SFr145 billion (around $158 billion) from SFr300 billion. Instead it will focus more on its wealth management operations, said the bank at the time.

Temasek, meanwhile, has been on the front foot; Cryan's appointment follows a raft of senior hires. Last year Tan Chong Lee, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Southeast Asia head of corporate and investment banking, joined as chief investment officer. Chia Song Hwee, formerly chief operating officer at semi-conducter company GlobalFoundries, joined as head of strategy and co-head of portfolio management. Ding Wei, who was the investment-banking chief at China International Capital, started at Temasek last year to run the China business.

The state investment company is one of the largest shareholders in London-listed Standard Chartered, with an 18 per cent stake. Temasek grew assets 3.8 per cent to $150 billion in the year to March 2011.