Daiwa hires former Korean deputy finance minister

Daiwa Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of Japan's Daiwa Securities, has appointed Chang-Lok Kim, former deputy minister of finance and economy in Korea, as a senior adviser.

Kim will work closely with Daiwa's senior management to help develop its businesses in the Asian region, as well as the firm's investment banking business line, Daiwa said in an announcement released yesterday.

"Mr Kim's depth of expertise and accomplishments in the financial sector, not only in Korea but also across Asia, will bring about significant development of our Asian business," said Takashi Hibino, deputy president of Daiwa Capital Markets.

Kim has three decades of government experience across various financial sectors, including banking, securities and insurance. He joined the Ministry of Finance and Economy in 1973 and was appointed deputy minister in 2001. During his time at the ministry he simultaneously had the role as the president of the Korea Center for International Finance, a government think-tank. From April 2004 to November 2005, he was deputy governor of the Financial Supervisory Service.  

After retiring from the civil service, Kim remained active in the country's financial sector and most recently had a role as the governor of Korea Development Bank from 2005 to 2008.

"I am looking forward to supporting Daiwa's Asia strategy, particularly on the development of the Asian capital markets, including that of Korea," Kim said in the same announcement.

Daiwa earlier this month bought the global convertible bonds and Asian equity derivatives businesses of KBC Group for around $1 billion.

The Japanese firm has been active in acquiring both businesses and human resources in Asia, as it, according to its own account, hopes to become one of the top five brokers in Asia ex-Japan by 2012. It also seeks to move into the top 10 in the league table rankings for Asia ex-Japan investment banks by March 2013, it said at a media briefing late last year.

On the capital markets side, the firm has a long way to go, even in Korea where Daiwa says it has grown steadily since it opened a representative office in 1982 to become, in its own view, "one of the most successful foreign investment banks in Korea".

However, it is nowhere near a top 10 bookrunner in Korea, either in the equity or debt capital markets. Last year, Daiwa ranked 35th in ECM after helping companies raise a total of $44 million. This compares with $1.16 billion worth of deal credits for UBS, which was the number one bookrunner in the country, according to statistics provided by Dealogic.

On the debt side, Daiwa's ranking was even lower at number 46. Its total deal value of $231 million was dwarfed by Woori Finance's $8.34 billion at the top of the tables.