Goldman Sachs plans to start a convertible bond sales and trading desk in Hong Kong, which will be headed by Jeremy Eakin, head of European convertible sales and trading in London. Eakin said he will relocate to Hong Kong in December, but declined further comment.
The origination desk is within equity capital markets so it is likely that sales and trading would work closely with the equity derivatives practice, according to market officials. David Voon, managing director and head of equity derivatives in Hong Kong, declined comment.
An official at a competing firm said it makes sense for Goldman to start a sales and trading operation now as it has had a successful year in convertible origination. Goldman was the sole lead manager of Cathay Financial Holdings' USD700 convertible bond and China Development Financial Holdings' USD450 million deal--both of which were launched in May. Issuance is also expected to pick up in the Taiwan market because there is a lot of paper that is maturing in the near-term and will need to be refinanced, the rival added.