Barclays Plc is rebuilding its person-to-person stock trading setup in Japan, bringing in two longtime CLSA hands to kick it off. Takeo Kamai will run high-touch sales trading at the bank's local securities arm, and Warren Kim is joining the team that has been set up for the relaunch.
Japan's equity comeback has encouraged overseas institutions to expand onshore. High-touch trading is the more hands-on model where sales traders personally work client orders. In 2016, Barclays pared this line of activity in Japan amid wider Asia cost reductions, redirecting focus toward electronic trading, derivatives sales, and hedge-fund services.
Most recently, Kamai headed CLSA's execution services in Japan, spanning high-touch, program, and electronic trading. Kim earlier ran the Chinese company's offshore sales-trading operations for Japan. Bloomberg News reported in June that Barclays was preparing to make these hires.
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"Japan is one of the world's most important equity markets and remains a strategic focus for Barclays," said Paul Johnson, who leads equities for Asia-Pacific.
