Equities First Holdings has appointed two senior executives for its South Korea and Thailand operations. James Gee-Chul Lee is the new managing director and chief executive officer of South Korea and Ratakorn Kiatikajornthada is the new managing director of Thailand.

In their new roles, Lee and Ratakorn will lead origination strategies for EquitiesFirst in South Korea and Thailand respectively, driving operations across all areas of the business.

With over 24 years of experience in financial services and legal consultancy, Lee has advised regional and global clients across key financial markets, including New York, Hong Kong and London. Prior to EquitiesFirst, he was a relationship partner for global institutional clients in one of South Korea’s largest law firms, Kim & Chang. He has also served as general counsel for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Korea, and worked at international legal institutions including Sidley Austin, Skadden Arps and Clifford Chance.

Ratakorn brings more than 15 years of professional experience in investment banking and private equity to EquitiesFirst, specializing in business development, capital market analysis and alternative investments strategies. He was previously head of equity capital markets at Macquarie, Thailand. He has also held senior positions at RHB Securities and Daiwa Securities.

EquitiesFirst, a global institutional investment firm wholly-owned by US financier and entrepreneur Alexander Christy, Jr., manages over US$1 billion of proprietary capital in a public equities portfolio.