Goldman’s Kavvathas joins VTB as Asia global markets chief
Dimitrios Kavvathas, a former partner at Goldman Sachs and co-head of Asia Pacific ex-Japan securities distribution and head of Asia Pacific structuring, has joined VTB Capital in Hong Kong after retiring Goldman in January.
Kavvathas joins the Russian bank as head of global markets, Asia Pacific, responsible for managing, expanding and further developing VTB Capital’s sales and trading capabilities in the region. He started the job this week, sources from the bank confirm.
The news comes 10 months after Kavvathas left Goldman. He had been at the bank since 2001, where he began working the interest rate hedge fund sales desk. In 2008, he took over as co-head of EMEA credit flow sales. In 2009 he moved to Hong Kong and took over equity derivatives and credit distribution. He was named a managing director in 2005 and a partner in 2008.
Kavvathas’ appointment is a coup for VTB Capital as it continues to build a presence in Asia. In January 2012, the investment bank hired veteran Bank of America Merrill Lynch banker Damian Chunilal to become its first chief executive in Asia. Chunilal’s appointment came just two months after the firm opened its Hong Kong office.
RBS bond syndicate drops to two after Lee exit
RBS’ debt syndicate team experienced another loss after Valerie Lee, an associate on the desk, departed the bank in late August after four years at RBS. This leaves the team with two syndicate professionals in Asia ex-Japan, down from four a year earlier.
Singapore-based Lee left RBS to and joined Standard Chartered earlier this month, where she is an associate director on debt syndicate desk. She reports to Ashish Malhotra, head of Asia syndicate. She had been at the bank for approximately four years, joining RBS as part of its graduate trainee programme.
Lee is the most recent Asia ex-Japan syndicate banker to have left RBS in 2013, out of a team that was four strong a year earlier.
Chan shifts roles at StanChart
In addition to Lee joining the debt syndicate team (see above), Standard Chartered syndicate banker Samuel Chan has moved from the bond syndicate deal to join the Southeast Asia DCM team.
Chan had been in his debt syndicate role since February 2009, when he joined the bank from UBS. He continues to be a director.
Barclays’ Law to join BoA-Merrill
Former head of Greater China foreign exchange (FX) and rates trading at Barclays, Patrick Law, will take on a senior rates and FX trading role at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA-Merrill), as first reported by Asiamoney PLUS.
Hong Kong-based Law, who was a managing director at Barclays, left the bank in August. He has not yet started the job at BoA-Merrill.
At Barclays, in addition to managing the FX and rates trading desks in Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai, Law was also responsible for promoting emerging market products to institutional and corporate clients in this region.
He spent 20 years in various fixed income and derivatives trading roles in Hong Kong, Toronto and New York, and had spent around nine years at Barclays.
At BoA-Merrill, Law will partially assume duties left by Kan Fung Li, a managing director and head of Asia Pacific FX trading, who departed the bank in June.
DBS hires bond syndicate banker from RBS
Rogerio Bernardo has joined the bond syndicate team in Singapore. Bernardo’s most recent role was at RBS, where he was a director in the Asia Pacific bond syndicate team. At DBS, he will report to Clifford Lee, head of fixed income.
Bernardo has worked in the Asian financial markets for 16 years, starting his career with NatWest Markets before it was taken over by RBS. He worked for eight years in rates and FX derivative structuring before spending eight more in the Asian fixed income markets in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Natixis hires fixed income sales head from ANZ
French bank Natixis has hired Yuri Lin, former head of fixed income sales for Northeast Asia at ANZ, to head up its fixed income, commodities and treasury sales business in Asia Pacific.
Lin joined the bank the week of October 14, say sources close to the hire. He is based in Hong Kong.
He joins Natixis after two and a half years at ANZ. Prior to his time at ANZ, he was the head of credit flow sales at BNP Paribas. Lin left that position in August 2010.
StanChart hires head of agricultural commodities sales
Liam Pepper has joined Standard Chartered as head of agricultural commodities sales, based in Singapore. He reports to Tim Wilson, global head of commodity sales, financial markets. The role is a new one.
Pepper joins from J.P. Morgan where he worked in marketing agricultural derivatives and commodity related financing across Asia Pacific since 2009. Before that he worked at National Australia Bank, where he was responsible for risk management sales across Australia and New Zealand.
Lu to lead investment banking at Duff & Phelps
David Lu has joined investment banking firm Duff & Phelps as managing director and head of the company’s investment banking practice in China. He will be based in Shanghai, and joins along with the rest of his team from Cowen Group, where he was most recently head of Asia investment banking.
In his new role he will focus on advisory related to M&A, fairness options, going-private transactions, private market capital raising and financial restructuring in China. He will report directly to Robert Bartell, Duff & Phelps’ global investment banking leader, and will work closely with the firm’s China business leader, Sammy Lai.
Before joining Cowen Group, Lu worked for Piper Jaffray and Rodman & Renshaw, where he led the firm’s investment banking team in China. Before this he worked for DBS, Vickers Financial and Salomon Smith Barney.
Credit Suisse PB in greater China hire
Luo Liuyi has joined Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia Pacific as managing director and a leader for greater China, effective October 17. She is based in Hong Kong, reporting to Tee Fong Seng, vice chairman and market area head for greater China. She will also take on the role of market manager for China.
Luo joins from China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong, where she was managing director, head of ultra high net worth (UHNW) management.
Before that she worked at Goldman Sachs from 2001 to 2009 as an executive director in the private wealth management division, also based in Hong Kong. She started her banking career with Citibank in China.
Chan to head Asia managed products at MS
Ernest Chan will join private wealth management Asia at Morgan Stanley as a managing director and head of managed products Asia.
He joins from UBS private bank Hong Kong where he was a managing director and head of investment funds sales and distribution. Before this he worked for J.P. Morgan private bank Hong Kong. He will start his new role in December, according to an internal memo seen by Asiamoney PLUS.
This is the first time Morgan Stanley has had a managing director in this role, and Chan’s hire is part of the bank’s focus on building up its managed product business for wealth management clients.