BNP Paribas will shift its debt capital markets (DCM) origination business from the fixed income division in Asia to its investment banking unit by October 1, sources confirm to Asiamoney PLUS. The debt syndicate desk will remain in fixed income.
The reorganisation will only affect BNP Paribas’s Asia operations and is designed to generate more business.
“BNP is organised by silos right now where fixed income and equities bankers don’t talk much or share information,” said one banker with knowledge of the changes. “The idea is that origination bankers will go to client meetings with bankers across divisions and conduct multi-product pitches to generate more business.”
Expansion plans
BNP has not officially announced who the bank’s DCM debt origination team will ultimately report to following the October 1 deadline.
The change impacts the bank’s investment grade and high yield debt originators who sit in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. The group includes Sameer Sopuri, head of high yield capital markets, Asia Pacific, Yung Tan, head of North Asia high yield capital markets, and Shu Duan out of Hong Kong.
Sopuri, Tan and Shu recently joined the bank from Standard Chartered.
Frank Kwong, managing director and head of syndicate, Asia Pacific, will continue to lead the debt syndicate team reporting to Robert Hawley, Jr., head of fixed income for Asia Pacific.
Kwong has also been de facto head of origination after head of DCM Mark Adams left the bank in 2011 after eight years at BNP.
Banking and headhunting sources suggest BNP will look to name a new head of DCM either internally or externally as part of the reorganisation.
Asia growth
BNP is expected to further expand its debt capital markets team as part of its Asia growth plan.
In its 2012 annual report, BNP said it will hire 1,300 staff in Asia over next three years. It aims to grow its investment solutions and investment banking revenues in Asia to more than €3 billion (US$3.93 billion) by 2016, or a 12% compounded annualised growth rate.
BNP noted that it will “step up the effort with respect to trade finance and cash management and, in fixed Income, speed up the roll out of bonds, flow products, and hedging instruments”.
Sources close to the bank say BNP will hire bankers with more regional expertise during this time and rely less on talent from outside the region to support its business.
BNP Paribas is ranked 13th on the Asia Pacific G3 DCM bookrunner league tables in the year to July 12.
A spokeswoman from the BNP Paribas declined to comment on the reorganisation.