Based in New York, Newton will work alongside former HSBC colleagues Ben Welsh and Dan O’Sullivan, both of whom joined Jefferies last autumn with a view to building out the FX business after Jefferies acquired the boutique investment bank Prudential Bache in April for $430 million. PruBache was ranked 66th with US customers in the Euromoney FX survey in 2011. At HSBC, Newton was global head of emerging markets strategy team in New York, having initially joined the bank’s strategy division in Hong Kong in 2000.
Welsh, now global head of FX at Jefferies, left Goldman Sachs commodity division in November, while O’Sullivan left his post as global co-head of trading at Société Générale to join the firm.
Stoke-on-Trent-born Newton has also gained some notoriety as an investor in English football clubs, having bought a stake in Oldham Athletic, where he is on the board of directors. Newton rejoined the board of the League One club in September after a year’s absence, having also approached Stockport County and Port Vale football clubs as a potential investor, according to regional newspaper reports.
Jefferies was unable to confirm Newton’s exact role within the bank.