Fitch hires Ho

Fitch Ratings has appointed Daniel Ho to run its operations in Taiwan, replacing Roxanne Liu, who has left the agency for family reasons.

Ho comes to Fitch from Taishin Bank. A career banker and CFO, he has also worked at Citibank, Bank of America and Banque Paribas, mainly in the corporate and investment banking departments. His new position has been effective since December 1.

Fitch in Taiwan already covers the financial institution and banking sectors but Ho intends to concentrate on building up three new areas of coverage: bond funds, corporate bonds and securitization. According to Ho, securitization in Taiwan in asset classes such as real estate and credit cards, is "booming" after the government changed rules allowing such deals in 2002.

Separately, Fitch has just launched an Asia specific website under the address of www.fitchratingsasia.com. The website is aimed at local issuers and investors and will contain all of Fitch's individual reports, ratings, coverage lists, sector presentations and quarterly newsletters. "The website is targeted at fixed income investors and issuers who would like access to Fitch Ratings assigned to constituents of the major bond indices used by investors," said Vivek Goyal, head of business development, Asia of Fitch Ratings.