Singapore FX build-up for BoA

Bank of America (BofA) made four new hires in FX trading in Singapore in September. The hires are part of the bank’s ongoing move to strengthen foreign exchange, said Larry Baum, New York-based global head of spot, forward and proprietary trading.

"This is a continuation of what we’ve already done in New York and London," said Baum. "We want the best possible people in seats around the globe, focused on the client and clients’ needs."

Bank of America made two new hires in FX forwards as part of an effort to move from a standard cash business into more of a strategic risk management team that focuses on interest rates, said Baum.

The most senior of the hires, David Singer, joined as Singapore-based head of G10 forwards FX for Asia. He reports to head of FX in Singapore, Chee Pin Lee as well as to Baum in New York. Singer joined from ING Financial Markets in Hong Kong, where he traded interest rate derivatives and forwards in the emerging markets group, reporting to Hong Kong-based head of emerging markets Tim Fallowfield. Prior to ING, Singer was head of short-term interest rate trading at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.

Reporting to Singer at BofA in Singapore is another new hire, Greg Moore, who will cover forward euro and sterling. Moore has left TD Securities in Tokyo, where he managed the forwards and interest rates business.

Martin Drake, meanwhile, joined as spot/euro trader for Canadian dollars also in Singapore. He leaves Toronto Dominion Securities in Sydney where he was chief dealer, but spent the majority of his career as a senior dealer at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. Drake has rejoined BoA having worked at the bank’s Sydney office before joining Goldman in 1995.

Another spot hire, Willie Sim, was hired to cover spot sterling and euro/sterling. He leaves futures commission merchant Refco in Singapore, where he was chief dealer and head of FX sales. Drake and Sim both report to Steve Stone, chief dealer at Bank of America in Singapore.

Baum declined to comment on whether or not these latest hires were new roles or replaced empty positions. He also declined to give the current headcount of traders in Singapore.