FX market round up: Keep on moving

Those on the move included the very senior, such as Ben Welsh, HSBC New York’s head of FX, global markets and US rates, down to relative juniors. Welsh’s departure seemed entirely driven by his desire to take a break from the business, rather than a belief that the grass might be greener elsewhere. The bank also lost Claus Skrumsager as its head of corporate sales in London for a destination as yet unknown.

Bank of America seemingly hit the headlines after 10 of its staff resigned in a week. However, the attrition rate was described as no more than normal for this time of year and sources at the bank implied that as many replacements were either already in place or soon on their way in. Departures included Alain Delelis, who until earlier this year had been the bank’s head of EMEA FX. Delelis was rumoured to be headed for Credit Suisse, although neither institution would confirm this. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse hired Gordon Wallace, once of Deutsche Bank and then of hedge fund Citadel, to head up its global FX options business.

Dresdner Kleinwort also made a senior appointment in options, hiring Ira Koyner to lead its New York team. Another bank beefing up was HVB, part of the UniCredit markets and investment bank.

HVB made a couple of high-profile hires around 18 months ago when it poached Kenan Altunis and Steve Turner from Deutsche. As a result of merger activity, the two have been relatively quiet but they now seem to be in recruitment mode, having hired Paul McErlean from BlueCrest, Russell Thomas from National Australia Bank and Guenter Grimm from JPMorgan. Sources reckon there is more to follow.