RBS raids Shinsei to establish leveraged finance business in Tokyo

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has poached an eight-strong team from Shinsei Bank in Tokyo to extend its leveraged finance business into Asia.

Satoshi Kitahama will lead the team as managing director and head of leveraged finance for Asia, reporting locally to John Mullins, head of corporate banking and financial markets for Japan, and Euan Hamilton, London-based head of leveraged finance.

At Shinsei, Kitahama was head of leveraged and project finance, as well as running mergers and acquisitions and acting as general manager for the entire corporate advisory business. Prior to Shinsei, he worked in London for CSFB, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.

The seven other members of the team are Katsuhiko Ando, Tatsuo Konishi and Yoichiro Mori, who join as directors; Bruce Harris, Kazuki Yoneda and Takaaki Tamai, who join as vice-presidents; and Robert Okuyama, who joins as an associate.