IXIS Asia is planning to set up a specialist sales team, which markets products such as structured notes, derivatives and collateralized debt obligations to China. The French-owned firm has hired Huongguang Zhang, fixed income derivative salesman at Société Générale in Hong Kong, as managing director and head of fixed income for China to spearhead the effort.
"Clearly there are promising opportunities for China and we are now building the platform," said Michel Labrousse, senior executive officer at IXIS in Hong Kong, to whom Zhang now reports to locally. Zhang confirmed the move but declined further comment.
The hire is part of an ongoing effort by the bank to push into Asia. It recently established a Hong Kong operation to handle derivative marketing and structuring efforts for the region (DW, 10/29).
