Merrill Lynch adds five to Asian debt team

Merrill Lynch has announced five additions to its Pacific Rim debt markets team. In Hong Kong Mitch Matharu has joined as a director in the Asia Pacific strategic solutions group. This will entail looking for asset and liability solutions for companies and banks in Southeast Asia. He joins from CSFB.

Also in Hong Kong, Kevin Law joins as a vice president from Deutsche Bank. He will be part of the global principal investments and secured financing group undertaking structured finance work for banks and companies throughout the region.

In Tokyo, Yan Li joins from CDC as a Director in the global rates group where he will be involved in interest rate derivative analytics. Also in Tokyo Yoshiaki Okonogi joins as a vice president from GE Capital. As with Law in Hong Kong, Okonogi will be part of the global principal investments and secured financing group, but he will be looking at non-performing asset opportunities in Japan.

Finally in Singapore, Wei Fung Seethor joins from ABN Amro as a director in the Asia Pacific investor client group focusing on credit, structured credit and rates sales for financial institutions.

All five will report to Osman Semerci, managing director and head of the Pacific Rim debt markets team in Tokyo. In an internal memo, Semerci said the new five "will further enhance the strong debt franchise we have in the region."