HypoVereinsbank moves for Japanese credit derivatives licence

HypoVereinsbank is preparing to apply for a licence that would allow it to trade credit derivatives in Tokyo. The move comes as the German bank has significantly beefed up its credit derivatives and securitisation teams in Asia.

The bank has hired Mark Drewniak as a credit trader in Tokyo to join Manabu Nagano, head of credit trading in Tokyo. Nagano said current trading activities are restricted to cash bonds, including euroyen, samurai and global bonds issued by Japanese entities. The German lender has also hired Masumi Ikawa, Kunihiko Hikasa and Kazuhiro Yamamoto, all from BNP Paribas, to join its securitisation team, bringing its Tokyo head count to seven.

HypoVereinsbank’s credit derivatives trading is currently done in Singapore, where the bank has three traders. Lei Qing and Rosetta Au have joined the securitisation and credit trading team in Singapore during the past three months. Au was previously with JP Morgan.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, HypoVereinsbank has hired Stefan Masuhr as head of structuring for its structured markets business and Mindi Lee, who is joining the securitisation team, said a Singapore-based spokesman for the bank. Lee was previously a structured finance analyst at Moody’s Investors Service in Hong Kong.

The new appointments bring to 27 the total number of the bank's dedicated asset-backed security and credit team in the region. The teams report to Singapore-based Nick Hamilton, head of securitisation and credit engineering for Asia.