Former Merrill Lynch President Kevan Watts passes away

Former President of DSP Merrill Lynch Kevan Watts passed away in London Saturday night after a brief illness. He was 68.

Watts is survived by his wife, Prudence, three children and grand children, a release said.

He worked at Merrill Lynch from 1981 to 2010 across its various offices - New York, London & Hong Kong. He also lived and worked in Mumbai wherein he was responsible for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch's businesses in India as President for about two years, following their merger.

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Watts spent seven years at H M Treasury, which included two years as Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. He gained a first class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and a post-graduate degree in Philosophy, both at University College, Oxford.

He was also Chairman of The UK ASEAN Business Council, a member of the International Advisory Council of Huawei Technologies, a large Chinese telecom equipment company headquartered in Shenzhen, a non-executive director of Tottenham Hotspur plc, the English Premier League football club, and a member of the Advisory Board of Corsair Capital, a long standing private equity firm exclusively investing in financial services.