Bank of America has hired three fixed income and credit derivatives pros and plans to add up to five more to beef up its commitments in Japan as part of a restructuring effort. Growing client demand for fixed-income and credit products, such as structured notes and synthetic collateralized debt obligations, has prompted the move, according to Kenichi Tatsuzawa, managing director and head of the global markets group in Tokyo-which runs all fixed-income related products. Before the department was structured along product lines with nobody taking direct responsibility for Asia. The firm has implemented the change to better co-ordinate the products in the region as the department grows.
Kumiko Asano, managing director at J.P. Morgan in Tokyo, will join the firm in the next few weeks. Tatsuzawa said Asano will focus on interest-rate derivatives structuring.
Another appointment is Sal Amery, managing director of the structured credit products group in Tokyo, who joined in September from UBS Warburg where he was responsible for the collateralized debt obligation business, both cash and synthetic, in Tokyo. He said he reported to James Singh, global head of structured products at UBS in London. At BofA he will spearhead the marketing effort for credit products for all of Asia, declining further comment. Tatsuzawa said that Amery is also head of the Asia marketing side for the credit product line.
Yuji Mizuno, v.p. of securitization at Sanwa Securities in Tokyo, joined BofA last month as a v.p. of the structured credit products group. Mizuno said that he will focus on structuring credit derivatives products, such as credit-linked notes, declining to elaborate.
At Sanwa Mizuno reported to Takayoshi Kitajima, general manager of the structured finance department in Tokyo. Kitajima did not return calls by press time. Atsuko Yoshitsugu, spokeswoman at Morgan in Tokyo, declined comment about Asano's move. A market official attributed the move to a fallout in the aftermath of Morgan's merger with Chase Manhattan last year. Asano, who came from the Morgan side of the firm, could not be reached. Officials at UBS in Tokyo declined comment about Amery's departure.
