Barclays Capital has pulled off a coup by hiring Karan Madan as Latin America regional head and head of Latin America FICC trading. Madan, who joins from Deutsche Bank and previously worked at Merrill Lynch, is one of the most respected traders in the business, with former colleagues and rivals praising his skills.
A former colleague says: “He’s a talented trader. He takes views and will manage the house well. Barclays Capital is a very sovereign house. We rarely see them in the corporate sector. Maybe that will change under Karan.”
Another banker says: “Barclays is in pretty bad shape so if one firm needs sorting out, it’s them.” The UK bank has fallen away in Latin America in recent years, trailing the big US and European firms in the region.
One Deutsche Bank source says that while Madan’s departure is a loss, it is not insurmountable. “It was unexpected but the Deutsche platform has enough depth in its senior management to overcome his departure. The business is not a one-man show.”
Madan’s remit at BarCap will be to improve the bank’s franchise in Latin America across all products including fixed income, currencies, commodities (FICC), equities and investment banking. In addition, he will be directly responsible for FICC trading.
“Latin America has been a strategic focus for the firm for the past decade and this appointment demonstrates the commitment to further developing our platform in the region,” says Jerry del Missier, co-chief executive of corporate and investment banking at BarCap.
Eric Felder, head of global credit and emerging markets trading, adds: “The region continues to experience strong economic growth and capital market expansion, which creates opportunities across all FICC asset classes. Karan’s experience and unique perspective will benefit our clients and enhance our fixed-income trading and origination franchise throughout Latin America.”
At Deutsche, Madan ran the Latin American global markets business, where he was responsible for sales, trading and structuring for fixed income and equity. He was also involved in the strategic expansion of Deutsche’s Latin America business.
Before joining the German firm in 2009, Madan spent 14 years at Merrill Lynch, where in his last role he was head of global local-currency trading and head of Latin America debt and equity sales, trading and structuring.
Not all believe it will be plain sailing for Madan. One banker says: “He is used to working for an investment bank not a commercial bank and its processes. Traders don’t like processes.”
Madan is expected to take up his new role in August.
