Lehman poaches senior Merrill employee

Lehman Brothers has hired Joonkee Hong as managing director and head of global finance, Asia-Pacific, in Tokyo.

Hong will be responsible for Lehman’s equity and debt capital markets, as well as derivatives, leveraged finance and private placements. He will report to Kunho Cho, head of investment banking in the Asia-Pacific, and Jeff Weiss and Larry Wieseneck, co-heads of global finance.

Hong joins from Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, where he held a senior position in the debt markets, and previously spent nine years at UBS where his positions included global head of emerging markets derivatives marketing and head of fixed income for North Asia.