M.Stanley hires Asian debt banker from Goldman-sources

Morgan Stanley has hired Ronan McCullough, the former head of debt syndicate in Asia for Goldman Sachs, for a similar role, three sources familiar with the move said on Monday.

McCullough left Goldman Sachs at the end of last month,said one of the sources, declining to be identified because hewas not authorised to discuss personnel moves.

At Morgan Stanley, McCullough will report to Vinay Jayaram,the Hong Kong-based co-head of fixed income capital markets forAsia.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined comment while McCullough could not be immediately reached.

The move comes as improved risk appetite and declining credit spreads have spurred a surge in corporate and sovereign debt issuance in the region this year.

This month, Malaysian state oil company Petronas sold $4.5 billion in dollar-denominated bonds and Islamic debt, marking Asia's biggest corporate bond sale since a $5 billion global issuance from Hutchison Whampoa.

Morgan Stanley was one of the underwriters for the Petronas deal.