Commerzbank to close FX trading and sales in London

Commerzbank is to close its trading and sales operations in London for foreign exchange.

Market sources told Risk's sister publication FX Week that the financial institution sales team, corporate sales team and trading team are to be discarded, with all FX trading and sales to be run out of Frankfurt. The move follows the announcement earlier this month that the bank is shifting the emphasis of its business to Frankfurt from London in a bid to improve profitability.

The entire FX sales team in London will leave the bank as a result of the move, as will the trading team in London and New York. Nozar Hussein, global head of FX trading, and Carmine Ricciardi, senior options trader, who was hired in September, will both leave the bank.

On the sales team, those going include Adam Gazzoli and Walter Colebatch from the financial institution sales team, Steve Whittet, who joined as a sales dealer in August, and Nick Law, head of sales in London.

A corporate sales team will remain in London selling multi-asset products, including interest rate and bond products.

The bank declined to comment on the changes, saying that plans had yet to be finalised.

Commerzbank announced earlier this month that 900 jobs are to go globally from the investment banking division, of which the bank's FX group is part. The bank is to integrate its investment banking and capital markets units, closing Commerz Securities in Tokyo and cutting its New York Commerzbank Capital Markets Corporation from 118 to 29.

The changes follow other senior departures from the bank in the past two months. Head of investment banking Mehmet Dalman left the group in October to go to Wealth Management Group. He was joined at the company by Mark Richardson, global head of derivatives at Commerzbank.

The bank has recently been the subject of speculation regarding a possible takeover.