People moves: SocGen adds in prime services, Deutsche fills new rates hole, HSBC makes model move, and more

Latest job changes across the industry

Societe Generale building

Latest job changes across the industry

Societe Generale has added to its prime services sales team in continental Europe. Stéphane Eglizeau joins as global head of sales for professional trading groups, based in Paris. He previously spent 11 years at ABN Amro Clearing Bank, most recently as chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific. In his new role at SG, Eglizeau reports to Christophe Lattuada, head of prime services.

Meanwhile in Frankfurt, Ebru Ciaravino joins SG’s prime services sales team as director of prime brokerage and clearing sales for Germany and Austria. She reports to Laetitia Teuber, head of prime brokerage for Europe. Ciaravino previously spent 15 years at Eurex and its parent, Deutsche Boerse.


HSBC has named Keith Garbutt as its global head of independent model validation. He joined the bank in October and reports to Clare Beale, global head of model risk management.

Garbutt joins after 14 years at Credit Suisse, where he was latterly head of enterprise risk innovation, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he spent five years as the Swiss bank’s head of model risk management, overseeing its efforts to comply with the US Federal Reserve’s stringent guidelines on model risk, known as SR 11-7. He joined Credit Suisse from Deutsche Bank in 2004, where had been head of pricing model validation.

HSBC declined to comment.

Beale was appointed head of model risk in April. She also serves as the bank’s model risk steward – a role which “advises, reviews and challenges the first line of defence on the appropriateness of their risk management activities and risk reporting”, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, she served as HSBC’s head of independent model review, and before that, held various senior actuarial roles within the bank.

January 2017 saw HSBC reshuffle its risk analytics function, with its then-head of analytics, Manoj Bhaskar, moving into the newly created role of global head of model risk management. Bhaskar left the bank shortly after the reshuffle, subsequently taking up a similar role at Standard Chartered. It is understood Beale’s role is not a direct replacement for Bhaskar’s.

The changes meant the risk analytics team was placed under the purview of Ray O’Brien, the bank’s chief operating officer for global risk. Previously, the unit’s head had reported to the head of wholesale market risk. The bank’s model risk management function meanwhile sits within risk strategy, which is headed by Alan Smith.

Model risk management has become a key focus for banks post-crisis, with global regulators instituting tough new rules on the building, monitoring and maintenance of models of all stripes – making quants with experience of model risk hot property in the jobs market. This year has even seen the formation of a dedicated professional body, the Model Risk Managers’ International Association.


Ioannis Sokos
Ioannis Sokos

Deutsche Bank has hired Ioannis Sokos as a European rates strategist. He was previously a director of fixed income research at Nomura, a role he held for a year. Before that he spent 10 years at BNP Paribas as a rates strategist, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In his new position at the German bank, Sokos reports to Francis Yared, managing director of rates strategy.


Walid Haram has joined Morgan Stanley as an emerging markets credit trader. Haram was previously an emerging markets trader at Nomura, joining the Japanese bank in 2009. Morgan Stanley declined to comment on who Haram reports to in his new role.


Nomura has promoted William Sajko to global head of e-forex trading. Singapore-based Sajko joined the bank in 2012 as head of e-forex trading for the Asia-Pacific region, and prior to that worked as a forex spot algo trader at BNP Paribas between 2008 and 2011. He continues to report locally to Anant Swarup, head of flow macro for Asia ex-Japan. He also reports to Asa Attwell, head of forex for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea).


Thorsten Gommel is set to join BNP Paribas Securities Services in April as head of Germany and Austria. He joins from consultancy firm PwC where he spent nine years as a partner and most recently worked in asset and wealth management. Gommel’s new role includes leading BNP Paribas’s depositary bank in Germany. He reports to Alessandro Gioffreda, head of continental Europe for BNP Paribas Securities Services, and Lutz Diederichs, chairman of the BNP Paribas group management board in Germany.

BNP Paribas is preparing to add €240 billion ($275 billion) of assets for DWS, the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank, to its fund administration platform, becoming administrator for DWS’s actively managed funds in Germany and Luxembourg, and the custodian and depositary bank for its retail funds.


Jamie Knowles has quit Credit Suisse to join Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a director in the hedge fund sales trading team in Emea equities. Knowles was previously an equities sales trader at the Swiss bank, joining in 2009. Before that, he spent three years working for JP Morgan. BAML declined to comment on who Knowles will be reporting to in his new role.


JP Morgan’s private banking arm has made several hires for its ultra-high-net-worth client business. David Agie de Selsaeten joins as a senior banker, responsible for Benelux clients. Previously he was single family office head at HSBC in Switzerland.

The private bank has also hired two investment advisers. Achim Unger joins from Deutsche Bank, where he was regional head of wealth investment advisory. In his new role, Unger will work on investment strategy and portfolio positioning. Akif Söderström joins to advise clients in the Nordics. Söderström leaves Danske Bank, where he was an investment specialist.

All three are based in Luxembourg and report to market manager Riccardo Pironti.

Elsewhere, JP Morgan’s investment bank has hired Ali Almakky as a managing director in corporate and investment banking strategy. Almakky’s previous role was global head of corporate strategy at Deutsche Bank. He left the German bank after his team was disbanded, according to a report in Financial News. 

Almakky started at Deutsche Bank in 2015, joining a strategy group set up under the tenure of former chief executive officer, John Cryan. Before that, Almakky spent 11 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In his new role at JP, Almakky reports to Max Neukirchen, head of corporate and investment banking strategy.


nex_Ben-Pott-web.jpg
Ben Pott

Ben Pott, head of government affairs at Nex, is leaving the electronic trading firm, a spokesperson confirms. He will join BNY Mellon as head of public policy and government affairs for Emea, starting in March. Pott joined Nex in 2014 from the European Banking Authority. BNY Mellon declined to comment on the move.


Natixis has appointed Douglas Lenart as head of portfolio management for the Americas in its corporate and investment banking business. Lenart arrives from Societe Generale where he spent 11 years in portfolio management in the bank’s New York office. In his new role at Natixis, Lenart reports globally to Anne-Christine Champion, global head of distribution and portfolio management, and locally to Benjamin Sirgue, head of strategic sectors and distribution for the Americas.

Natixis has also made two new additions to its board of directors: Nicole Etchegoïnberry and Christophe Pinault. Etchegoïnberry is currently board chairman at Caisse d’Epargne Loire-Centre, a network of savings banks. She replaces Stéphanie Paix, deputy chief of audit and compliance at Groupe BPCE, the parent of Natixis. Pinault is board chairman at Caisse d’Epargne Bretagne Pays de Loire. He replaces Alain Denizot, board chairman at Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes.


craig-donohue2
Craig Donohue

Craig Donohue is standing down as chief executive officer of equity derivatives clearing firm, OCC. He will retain his existing role as executive chairman. The new chief exec will be John Davidson, currently president and chief operating officer. Davidson joined the clearer in 2017 from Citigroup. Scot Warren, chief administrative officer, takes on the role of chief operating officer, reporting to Davidson. Warren joined OCC in 2015 from CME Group.

The moves are subject to regulatory approval.

OCC has also promoted Vishal Thakkar to head of enterprise risk management. Thakkar previously held a senior role in financial risk management and risk advisory services. In his new role, he reports to John Fennell, chief risk officer. Timothy Dwyer also joins OCC as senior vice-president of strategic systems, a new position at the firm. Dwyer was previously at US insurer Prudential.


Hedge fund Millennium Management has hired Ankit Raj as a fixed income portfolio manager. Raj joins from Goldman Sachs, where he was an interest rate volatility trader and, before that, an interest rate options trader, according to his LinkedIn profile. Millennium has also hired Uberto Palomba, an ex-Goldman Sachs managing director and former senior portfolio manager at Citadel. The hedge fund confirmed the moves but declined to comment on reporting chains.


Gottfried Leibbrandt, chief executive officer of Swift, a financial messaging service, will step down at the end of June 2019. Leibbrandt’s seven-year tenure has seen several notable hacks of the Swift network resulting in the theft of funds from users, not least the $101 million Bangladesh Bank cyber attack in 2016. Swift has since taken steps to shore up security among its members. The firm has begun the search for Leibbrandt’s replacement.


Elena Buchatskaya, former credit strategist at Goldman Sachs, has joined Google’s artificial intelligence division DeepMind. Buchatskaya spent three years at Goldman Sachs and two years in quantitative research at JP Morgan. Her LinkedIn profile lists her new job title as research engineer.


The board of directors of the Bank of Canada has appointed Paul Beaudry as deputy governor, effective February 18. Beaudry will join the central bank’s governing council and contribute to monetary and financial stability policy decisions, sharing responsibility for overseeing the bank’s financial system activities with deputy governor Lynn Patterson.


The vice-chairman of clearing house DTCC, Larry Thompson, has retired. During his 30 years at the company, Thompson held roles including associate general counsel and senior vice-president. He will continue on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.


Fabrice Coles has joined US bank lobbying group, the Bank Policy Institute, as vice-president of government affairs. Coles will focus on fintech policy issues. He has previous experience in government and policy roles, including at the Congressional Black Caucus and the US Department of Treasury. In his new role, starting on February 4, Coles will report to BPI’s head of government affairs, Anthony Cimino.

Correction, January 17, 2019: An earlier version of this article stated that Uberto Palomba was former head of Emea emerging market trading at Citadel. This was, in fact, his job title at Goldman Sachs. We have corrected his former job title at Citadel to senior portfolio manager. 

Editing by Alex Krohn

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