ING has made a set of hires to its equity research and sales teams across Asia.
In Thailand, the Dutch bank has recruited Andrew Stotz from SG as head of research for the country, with the rank of director and a personal focus on banks. Stotz has lived in Thailand for almost 10 years, working for Peregrine and WI Carr, before moving to SG for the last three years as a senior bank analyst.
Adrian Faure, head of research for Asia, has hired Stotz to replace Kenneth Ng, who has moved from equity research to John Thompson's equity sales group in Bangkok.
Uday Jayaram, head of Malaysian research, has hired two vice presidents in Kuala Lumpur. Francis Eng joins from Citibank, where he had been a senior credit analyst, to cover the construction and property sectors. And Edward Ong has joined from Straits-HK Goh Research to follow gaming, consumer and auto sector companies. Ong had worked at Straits-HK for over five years.
In Korean equity sales, ING has hired Jihyun Cho from Crédit Lyonnais to be a director for Korean senior sales, the same position she had previously held, while Jee Won Lee has moved from Fidelity Investment Management to be a vice president for Korean sales.
Lee had been an equity analyst covering the regional car sector and Korean consumer and shipbuilding companies.
Like several of its competitors, ING has been striving to expand its equities team over the last year, in preparation for a revival in regional markets.
The hiring spree looks set to continue. Peter Johnson, head of international equities, said: "We will continue to enhance our research coverage and deepen our sales capabilities in the region."
US law firm Morrison & Foerster has added three partners to its Tokyo real estate group, which acts on a range of financings, including securitisation.
Property specialist Eric Piesner transfers from the Tokyo office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he had worked on many aspects of real estate law, including acquisitions, leases, asset management, servicing and securitisation.
Theodore Seltzer, who joins from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Tokyo, has represented lenders and borrowers in non-recourse property financings and acquisitions, and has devised tax efficient structures for international property investors in Japan.
Morrison & Foerster has also moved its own Fred Lodge from New York to head the Tokyo real estate group.
Morrison & Foerster was one of the first US law firms to set up operations in Japan after foreign lawyers were granted permission to practise there in 1987. The firm collaborates in Japan with local firm Ito & Mitomi.