Barclays has named Jiho Kim, current head of investment banking in Korea, as its country manager, the second leadership change this week at a global bank in the country.
Jiho, who joined Barclays in 2005, will replace John Chang, who moved to Hong Kong recently to assume the role of head of equities distribution Asia-Pacific.
He will continue as head of investment banking in Korea, reporting to Patrick Kwan and Reid Marsh, co-heads of investment banking, Asia-Pacific.
“[Jiho] has been a vital part of our investment banking success in Korea and has been part of our senior leadership team in the wider Korea franchise for the past few years,” Kwan said in a statement.
Jiho began his banking career in the international finance team at LG International and also worked in the corporate coverage group at Deutsche Bank.
Chang joined Barclays in 2011 as head of equities in South Korea and took the role of country head in 2013.
Barclays opened its Seoul office in 1993 and started a cash equities franchise in early 2012 with a 68% market coverage. The bank offers full investment banking services in the country.
Barclays ranked 4th for G3 bonds in 2013, with a 10.2% market share, while it is currently 5th for 2014 YTD with a market share of 7.4%.
“We saw a great return from our Korean investment banking business over the past year and the wider franchise is nicely balanced,” Kwan added.
The move is the second change of leadership in Korea this week from a global investment bank.
On Monday, Citi announced that YK Ha, the US bank’s chief country officer for Korea, had retired after 33 years at the bank.
He has been replaced by Jin-Hei Park, markets and banking head, effective immediately.
Jin-Hei joined Citi in Seoul in 1984 and held various senior management roles for the bank in the country, including chief operating officer.
Trading volumes have held steady over the past year, according to data provided by Dealogic, with M&A particularly strong.
For 2014 year-to-date there has been $9 billion worth of equity capital markets deals, $95 billion of debt capital markets deals and $71 billion of M&A, according to Dealogic data.
Samsung SDS is the latest Korean group to come to market and is expected to price its $1.1 billion IPO on Friday.
Meanwhile, Cheil Industries, an affiliate of the Samsung Group, has filed plans for an IPO of up to $1.5 billion and is expected to engage investors next week.
