Debt market round up: Merrill poaches Baldini

Perhaps the biggest name to jump ship in the European debt syndicate world recently has been Marco Baldini. Baldini spent just under 12 years at Barclays Capital of which nearly 11 were on the debt syndicate desk, and he has now moved to Merrill Lynch.

During the time he was at Barcap the firm moved into a leading position in the euromarkets. Baldini focused on the corporate sector at the UK bank and now shifts from operating at an institution with a strong commercial balance sheet to a US broker that has only just emerged from several years spent restructuring and struggling in corporate debt.

More pertinently, a year ago, Merrill hired Mike Turnbull from Morgan Stanley, a highly regarded corporate originator.

Baldini reports locally to European syndicate head Patrick O’Connell and to global syndicate chief Paul Richards.