Bank of America-Merrill Lynch has poached Matthew Koder, a high profile banker from Swiss bank UBS AG , to head its corporate and investment banking business in Asia, in the first major defection in Asia after the bank bonus season.

London-based Koder, who has nearly two decades experience in investment banking and capital markets, will relocate to Hong Kong from London to help BofA beef up its Asian franchise.

IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, first reported Koder's move, which was confirmed by BofA. UBS was not available for comment.

UBS has dominated Asia's equity capital markets league table for the past six straight years despite losing some heavy hitters last year.

For the investment banking business, equity capital markets deals account for more than two-thirds of what a major foreign bank earns in Asia.

The 2010 IPO boom pushed that percentage even higher, with some banks earning an estimated $500 million in 2010 fees from Asia stock deals alone, according to Thomson Reuters.

UBS was left out of or given minor status in two of the world's largest stock offerings last year: the $20 billion plus IPOs of Agricultural Bank of China <1288.HK> <601288.SS>, and AIA Group <1299.HK>.

(Additional reporting by Elzio Barreto; Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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