Mass departures of staff from Barclays are turning into a regular annual event. We reported on this seasonal migration both in 2009 and 2010. However, Mike Bagguley, Barclays’ global head of FX trading, speaking to Euromoney a couple of months ago, was adamant that nothing exceptional was going on. “In 2009 and 2010 there’s been more people movement between firms generally, but our overall FX headcount has been up,” he said. This time around, however, Barclays declined to comment.
The departures are certainly extensive and, as in the previous two years, New York staff losses feature heavily.
Ade Odunsi, managing director of FX structuring and advisory, has left. He joined Barclays in 2007 as head of corporate FX sales, Americas, and previously worked at Merrill Lynch where he was head of US rates and FX structuring.
Other New York employees to leave are said to include: Jeanette Sodlon, in institutional sales; Ana Armiento, emerging market sales; and Paulo Sorio, spot FX trader. Also, Kirby Hoeft in institutional sales left the bank before Christmas. Sources say the departure was amicable, which probably indicates that he is off to one of his former clients – Moore Capital has been mentioned.