State Street hires options chiefs in Asia and Europe

Gustave Rieunier will join the Boston-headquartered bank in London in November as the new head of foreign exchange options for Europe. Rieunier leaves his position as forex options trader at Commerzbank in London, where he had worked for two years. Prior to working for the German bank he spent three years trading currency options at Credit Agricole Indosuez.

Meanwhile, Max Horgan joined State Street in Sydney in August as head of forex trading for the Asia-Pacific. Horgan left HSBC in New York, where he had been deputy co-head of forex derivatives for the past three years. Prior to that he was at ANZ in Sydney.

"The global investors and currency managers we service have been granted increasing flexibility to incorporate currency options into their investment products and processes," said Hank Lynch, global head of currency options at State Street in Boston. The bank aims to support that market segment through its increasingly analytical approaches towards currency hedging, and its increased desire for sources of risk-adjusted and absolute returns through the currency markets, he added.

The hires, which follow the appointment of Lynch himself in March, will enable State Street to launch 24-hour price-making and book management in currency options in support of the customer business, said Lynch.

The hires form a new specialised global team within State Street’s Global Markets unit. Previously, dealers with derivatives experience offered options as part of their broader responsibilities.

No further hires to the new team are planned at this stage, Lynch said.