The Royal Bank of Scotland is boosting its Asian fixed income business with senior appointments in Hong Kong and Tokyo. Steven Wong, European head of collateralized debt obligations at UBS in London, is joining as Asian head of CDO structuring. Masahiro Oshiro, marketer at Bear Stearns in Tokyo, will start as head of fixed income sales for Japan, and Tommy Kim, marketer at Chinkara Capital Markets in Singapore, is jumping to RBS as head of Korea sales in Hong Kong. "This reflects our growing presence in Asia and our commitment to this business," saidTrevor Vail, Asia-Pacific head of structured credit in Tokyo.
Wong's position is new for the U.K.-based bank and was created to boost its presence in the Asian market. He starts in the coming weeks and will be responsible for all leveraged credit transactions including hybrids, ABS CDOs of ABS and synthetic CDOs.
Firm officials said this is part of a wider revamp. For example, Tom Pickard, managing director in fixed income sales at Lehman Brothers in New York, was hired as Asia-Pacific head of sales in Tokyo earlier this year. Pickard spent several years in Japan prior to relocating to New York last year and was previously Asian head of sales for Lehman. Also, Lee Knight, Asia-Pacific head of fixed income in Hong Kong, recently came aboard from UBS to oversee the buildup in the credit and rates businesses (DW, 3/18).
Oshiro and Kim will report to Pickard, who declined comment. Wong will report to Vail.
