Wells Fargo Securities announced it has added new hires to the organization in response to growth opportunities and client demand in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

“The expansion of our Wells Fargo Securities team across the APAC region represents the next important step in enhancing our ability to deepen Wells Fargo’s excellent relationships with financial institutions, corporates and non-bank financial institutions in the region,” stated John Rindlaub, regional president for Wells Fargo Bank APAC. “We continually look for opportunities to better serve our clients.”

Barbara Wong has joined Wells Fargo Securities in Hong Kong as managing director in the APAC Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) team. With 15 years of investment banking and M&A experience, she leads coverage of the consumer, retail, healthcare and gaming sectors, reporting to Dan Bricken, managing director and head of International M&A, and Mark Jones, managing director and head of Wells Fargo Securities Asia Pacific.

Previously, she was managing director and chief operating officer of the APAC M&A team at Barclays. She has also held positions at Morgan Stanley Hong Kong, Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan.

Raymond Wong has joined as representative director and president of Wells Fargo Securities Japan. Based in Japan, he will lead initiatives to enhance the breadth and depth of the securities platform in Japan. Wong joins the organization with over 24 years of trading, sales and structuring experience, most recently serving as head of FX, Rates and Credit for UBS Japan. He has also served in leadership positions at Bankers Trust, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs.

Tomomi Kikuchi has joined as managing director and head of Wells Fargo Securities Asia Residential Mortgage Back Securities (RMBS) Trading and head of Japan Sales, reporting to Wong and Ari Kavour, head of RMBS Trading Wells Fargo Securities in the U.S. With over 20 years of market experience, he joins from Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he headed the non-yen sales business and was the RMBS product manager for the region. He has also held leadership positions at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and J.P. Morgan.

Satoshi Sakurai, reporting to Kikuchi, has joined Wells Fargo Securities Japan as a generalist fixed income salesperson. He has extensive experience in the U.S. RMBS market in Japan and has worked in a variety of capital markets roles. Previously, he was with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

“The expansion of our securities business in Japan is a natural one given the increasing demand for foreign assets there and our core competitive advantages in the U.S. securities markets,” stated Jones. “In addition, we are strengthening our investment banking and advisory capabilities to serve our clients across the Asia Pacific region with best-in-class products, solutions and expertise.”