Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Akram Zaman has relocated from New York to Hong Kong to head the bank's Asia Pacific equity capital markets syndicate team, a position that’s been vacant for a year.
He replaces Nick Lee, the US bank’s former head of Asia ECM syndicate, who resigned in April 2014 after 14 years at the bank.
Zaman moved to Hong Kong the week of April 25 and reports directly to Peter Guenthardt and Jason Cox, co-heads of APAC global capital markets, according to an internal company memo seen by FinanceAsia.
In his role, Zaman is responsible for equity and equity-linked new issuance, with a focus on boosting BAML’s blocks business in the region, the memo said.
Zaman has been with Bank of America Merrill Lynch for five years, most recently on the bank’s equity capital markets team in New York -- a post he held from May 2013 until April. In New York, he helped execute ECM transactions in the Americas and Latin America, according to the memo.
The bank does not have any plans to replace Zaman in New York, according to a source close to the company.
Before moving to New York, Zaman was previously head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) equity capital market syndicate in London from May 2010 to April 2013.
Prior to joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch in May 2010, Zaman held various roles at Morgan Stanley, including three years on the bank's global capital markets team focusing on origination and syndicate in New York and Hong Kong, according to his LinkedIn profile. The profile also noted his work as an analyst in Morgan Stanley’s investment bank, focusing on M&A, corporate finance and global capital markets in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Melbourne.
Zaman was a professionally-ranked tennis player on the Men’s ATP World Tour from January 1998 to December 1998, his LinkedIn profile said.
Nick Lee initially joined Merrill Lynch’s corporate finance department in Hong Kong in 2000, working in the unit for three years before shifting over to equity capital markets. He became head of Asia ECM syndicate in 2009. He now works at hedge fund Moon Capital in New York.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is currently ranked 7th on the league tables with block trades, raising $876 million via four deals so far this year up to May 5, according to Dealogic data. Goldman Sachs, UBS and Credit Suisse are the top three.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been on a number of notable deals this year, including Coal India’s $3.6 billion block in January, a deal that saw the Indian government sell a 10% stake in the state-run company to the market.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch also helped India’s HDFC Bank secure $1.6 billion after a dual-share sale in the US and India in early February, and Bharti Infratel’s $310 million block trade, which happened later in February.
Asia Pacific ex Japan ECM volume totalled $23.5 billion via 215 deals in April 2015, down 22% from the $30 billion raised in March 2015, although higher than the $20.1 billion raised in April 2014, according to Dealogic.
