NEW YORK (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (>> Credit Suisse Group AG) has hired senior banker Frank Napolitano from RBC Capital Markets (>> Royal Bank of Canada) to lead its global power and renewables practice, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

Napolitano, based in New York, will take the role of global head of power and renewables in the investment banking department and will work with John Cogan and Ahmad Masud in the Americas region and the other regional heads of the industry group, the memo showed.

A Credit Suisse spokesman confirmed the contents of the memo, which was signed by Jim Amine, Credit Suisse's global head of the investment banking department.

Napolitano, who will start in June and report to Amine, will cover clients including private equity firms active in the energy sector, independent power producers and utilities, according to the document.

At RBC, he served as the head of the U.S. power and utilities group since 2010. Prior to that, he was the president of Lakeside Energy, a Chicago-based energy investment firm. He also spent 11 years at Lehman Brothers.

In his new role, Napolitano will succeed Jamie Welch, who left Credit Suisse in July to become chief financial officer and head of corporate development at Energy Transfer Equity LP (>> Energy Transfer Equity LP), a diversified energy company based in Houston, Texas.

Some of the recent deals Credit Suisse advised on in the power and renewables sector include the $1.3 billion (787.3 million pounds) sale of an equity stake in Freeport LNG to IFM Investors in December, as well as the $950 million sale of New Mexico Gas to Teco Energy (>> TECO Energy, Inc.) in May.

The bank's power group generated roughly $406 million worth of investment banking fees between 2011 and 2013, ranking first in the industry league tables.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)

By Soyoung Kim