Merrill Lynch has lost four senior credit staffers from its Hong Kong desk, including George Sun, managing director in global structured credit products, and Sun Do Kim, a v.p. in the same team. A credit official familiar with the four's plans tipped them to resurface together, with Sun likely to take a senior role building up a structured credit business. The group has been connected with roles at Bear Stearns.Ai Ogawara, spokeswoman at Bear Stearns, declined to comment.
Players say Merrill's structured products team is one of the strongest in the region, both in terms of deal volume and innovation. It could not be determined how many are left in the team. The other departures are Jung Park and Sehoon Park, director and v.p. of Korea fixed-income sales, respectively.
Sun declined comment on whether the four resigned separately and where they are headed. Kim, Jung Park and Sehoon Park, could not be reached and Mark Tsang spokesman at Merrill declined comment on replacements.