Joonkee Hong, managing director and head of Korea debt markets at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, is joining Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong in a newly created role as Asian head of global finance in the coming weeks. Officials said he will be responsible for both debt and equity capital markets groups and will in particular focus on derivative-linked corporate issuance, such as structured debt launches. He did not respond to messages placed to his cell phone by press time and Ilja Maynard-Gregory, spokeswoman for Lehman, declined comment.
At Merrill, Hong oversaw the establishment of an onshore fixed income derivatives operation in Korea (DW, 3/28/04). Prior to Merrill, Hong was at UBS, where he was the global head of emerging market derivatives in Stamford, Conn. That followed a stint in Hong Kong as head of fixed income and head of debt capital markets, where he built up the derivatives platform in Asia (DW, 2/4/02).
"This role is more in line with his capabilities," said a senior marketer at a rival firm. He added Hong is a veteran of the region as a whole and has hands-on experience of several countries will assume a regional role.
Hong will report to Kunho Cho, Asian head of the investment banking division in Tokyo, who did not respond to messages.
