The news that Lehman Brothers is to hire Nick Jordan from Deutsche Bank to relaunch its Russian investment banking business is the latest in a series of moves that signal that it wants to become a serious player in the emerging markets.
Jordan will follow other recent senior appointments, including Soroosh Shambayati as head of fixed income emerging markets Europe, Jameel Akhrass as chief executive of the Middle East, Bassem Snaije as head of capital markets and investment management for the Middle East, Uzay Kozak as chief executive of Turkey, and Graham Boyce as chairman of the bank’s Middle East advisory board.
Lehman’s hires and internal promotions are not just isolated to emerging Europe and the Middle East. In Latin America, the firm is rumoured to be opening a new office in São Paulo, five years after closing a representative office in Brazil. Roberto Moraes, a senior salesman based in New York, will head that effort. In Asia, it has announced its intention to expand its activities in India and has moved Tarun Jotwani, who was co-head of European fixed income at the firm, to lead that business. In China, it has teamed up with IBM and created a fund that will invest in mid-stage to mature public or private local companies.