Merrill Lynch is gearing up its onshore Korean operation, after receiving a full derivatives license for the market.Inhwan Oh, director in fixed income at BNP Paribas, has been hired as a director in the strategic solutions group to focus on fixed income derivatives marketing, while Yoonkee Cho, exotic interest rate trader at Citigroup, joins as a v.p. for local currency trading, which includes fx and interest rate derivatives.H.H. Choi, country head at Merrill in Seoul, said the firm will add additional staff, including equity traders, likely around the beginning of next year.
Merrill became the first securities house in Korea to pick up a fx derivatives license last year (DW, 6/27/04) and subsequently has been readying for a full derivatives license, which will allow it to handle credit, equity, interest and commodity-linked products onshore (DW, 9/9).
