Bank of America Merrill Lynch has appointed a new head of Economics for Japan from rival HSBC.
In an internal memo seen by The Trade Asia, BAML announced that American Izumi Devalier is to join the firm in September, based in Tokyo.
The memo was co-authored by Ethan Harris, head of Global Economics, Vikram Sahu, head of Asia Pacific Research, and Helen Qiao, head of Asia Economics ex-Japan
Devalier is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and joins from HSBC in Hong Kong where she has worked for over four years as an economist covering both Japan and other Asian economies.
Her arrival comes as banks respond to growing liquidity fears. At the end of July, the Bank of Japan warned to expect further liquidity issues in the fixed income market.
A report in the Nikkei Asian Review noted that markets have been jittery since the BOJ announced on July 29 that it would conduct a “comprehensive assessment” of its monetary policy in September.
Before HSBC, Devalier worked in investment banking at Citigroup Global Markets in Tokyo. In addition to Columbia, she studied International Finance and Chinese, at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Devalier will report directly to Ethan Harris, head of Global Economics at BAML.