SG promotes El Asmar for Northern Europe

Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking has appointed Marc El Asmar as head of equity derivatives structured products sales and distribution for northern Europe. El Asmar joins the global equities and derivatives solutions division in London. The division is headed by David Escoffier, who has recently taken on the role of global head of the Hedge Fund Group as well as retaining his original position. El Asmar will report directly to Nicolas Miara-Godet, head of structured products sales for Europe, and Dan Fields, head of flow and listed products.

El Asmar, whose equity derivatives career started eight years ago in sales to the Middle East and North Africa, held the post of head of Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa sales from 2005.

Escoffier was promoted to head of global equities and derivatives solutions in London in February, moving from his role as head of SG CIB's London-based equity derivatives team. His move was part of Step Up 2010 - SG CIB's growth plan. SG CIB has now combined its equity derivatives capabilities with investor-focused cash equity sales and research to form global equities and derivatives solutions, headed globally by Christophe Mianne and Luc Francois.

Mike Camacho at JP Morgan has taken on the new role of head of global structured commodities as the bank strengthens its commodity-linked structured products offering. Camacho, who is based in New York, has moved from his previous post as head of JP Morgan's Americas Structured Investment group. He reports to Blythe Masters, global head of commodities. The move is one of 50 appointments made to the commodities division at JP Morgan this year, including three in the global carbon and environmental division. "We have an extremely talented, well-established team, with aggressive but attainable long-term growth plans," says Masters.

Santander Global Banking & Markets has hired David Behan to the new position of global head of solutions. Behan joins from the AIG Financial Products Group, and had previously worked in a variety of different roles in derivatives stretching across trading, marketing and sales. Behan reports to Jorge Maortua, global treasurer, and will focus on developing the "breadth and depth of derivative solutions offered to Santander's global client base in equities, commodities, rates and credit," says the company.

Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking has appointed Frank Drouet as head of global equities and derivatives solutions division for Asia-Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, Drouet will report to Christophe Mianne and Luc Francois, global heads of the global equities and derivatives solutions division, and will cover global equities sales (both cash and derivatives), structuring and trading across the Asia-Pacific region. Drouet replaces Bernard Desforges, who will take up another position within the bank. In Asia-Pacific, SG has a full range of equity derivatives activities including trading, structuring and distribution.

David Choukroun has joined JP Morgan as managing director and global head of product development for flow and exotic derivatives within its equity derivatives group. Choukroun will be based in London and report jointly to Cyril Levy-Marchal, global head of equity derivatives flow trading, and Neil McCormick, global head of equity exotics and hybrids trading.

Choukroun joins JP Morgan from BNP Paribas where he was global co-head of design and pricing of equity derivatives.

Merrill Lynch has hired Brad Schwartz as head of alternative investments origination and sales for the Pacific Rim. Hong Kong-based Schwartz will be responsible for providing Merrill's institutional and private clients with access to hedge funds, private equity funds, and funds of funds through proprietary platforms or structured products.

Schwartz will report to Abhinav Gorawara, head of equity structured solutions and financial products group at Merrill. Before Merrill, Schwartz was managing partner and chief operating officer at Vectors Research Management. Prior to that, he was an institutional salesman at Merrill specialising in convertible bonds and equity derivatives.

Law firm McKee Nelson has hired Alice Yurke as partner and co-head of the firm's structured products group. New York-based Yurke will work with the group's co-chair, William Gray, to direct the firm's expansion in the market. Yurke joins McKee Nelson from Morrison & Foerster where she held the role of partner. Prior to that, she spent 16 years at Rogers & Wells/Clifford Chance.

Yurke is a member of the Structured Products Association, the New York City Bar Futures & Derivatives Regulation Committee, and the Derivatives & Structured Products Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association Committee.