Jason Cox, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s co-head of Asia-Pacific global capital markets, has resigned after a decade with the bank, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia.
Cox left the bank in order to pursue outside opportunities, according to the memo.
Peter Guenthardt, who joined BAML in 2014 as co-head of Asia-Pacific GCM, will be sole head of the division. No successor for Cox has been named.
The memo was issued by James Probert, head of global capital markets, and Jiro Seguchi, head of Asia Pacific global corporate and investment banking.
Cox joined BAML from Goldman Sachs in 2005 and was promoted as co-head of Asian equity capital markets two years later alongside Soofian Zuberi.
During his time with BAML, Cox helped steer the American bank as one of the top 10 investment banks in terms of equity fundraising in Asia ex-Japan over the past five years, according to data provider Dealogic. During the period, BAML has maintained a market share of around 3% of Asia’s equity capital markets, Dealogic data shows.
On Cox's watch BAML was sole bookrunner in key equity offerings in Asia, including Petronas’ $2.1 billion block trade of Cairn India shares in 2011 and China Construction Bank’s $1.5 billion block of shares sold by BAML in 2013, as well as Waddell & Reed’s $1.4 billion exit from Sands China through an overnight block trade last year, according to Dealogic.
BAML was also involved in jumbo IPOs and secondary offerings as joint bookrunners during Cox's tenure. Some notable deals include American Insurance Group’s $6 billion block trade in 2012 and Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties’ $4 billion Hong Kong IPO last year.
Cox’s departure marks the second exit by senior management personnel this year. In March, the bank lost Axel Granger, former head of Southeast Asia mergers and acquisitions.
But BAML has also added head count this year. Neil Kell, Deutsche Bank’s former ECM head for Asia ex-Japan, plans to join BAML as chairman of international equity capital markets. The bank also relocated Akram Zaman from New York to Hong Kong in May this year to head the Asia-Pacific ECM syndicate team.
