BarCap builds equity derivatives desk in Tokyo

Two Japan volatility traders, Shirish Chandrakar and Douglas Chia, are due to relocate from Hong Kong in October, while another trader, Cyprian Bruck, moved from London at the end of July. The UK bank has also hired one graduate in Tokyo on the structuring side.

The traders will report to Serge Handjian, Tokyo-based head of equity derivatives trading for Japan, who joined on June 4. He was previously head of flow trading at BNP Paribas, and now reports to Nicolas Cohen-Addad, Hong Kong-based head of equity derivatives trading for Asia.

The graduate structurer reports to Tadakatsu Kawakita, who joined in March as Tokyo-based head of equity structuring. Kawakita was previously a vice-president at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo and now reports to Susan Chan, BarCap's Hong Kong-based head of equity derivatives structuring for Asia.

The bank plans to add another trader and another structurer in 2008 to bring the Tokyo team up to eight, with future expansion likely, including additional sales and distribution staff, says a spokesman.

The Tokyo desk will focus on all Japan-linked derivatives products for the onshore and offshore markets, covering flow products and structured assets to asset & liability management solutions for financial institutions and corporates.