Category Archives: Hires & Fires

Merrill Lynch promises “strategic hires” in Russia

By Andrei Skvarsky.   Bank of America Merrill Lynch has announced it “is strengthening its infrastructure” in Russia and is going to make “strategic hires”.   Moving to new offices in central Moscow is part of BAML’s expansion in Russia, according to a statement by the bank, which recently dismissed one of its top Moscow-based… Continue Reading

VTB Capital hires Goldman banker to run global flow sales

By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s VTB Capital has hired Philip Hamilton from Goldman Sachs as global head of flow sales. Hamilton joined former colleague Atanas Bostanjiev, who left Goldman recently to spearhead VTB Capital’s international expansion. Hamilton will be based in London and run trading and sales operations for foreign exchange, credit, loans and rates, according… Continue Reading

Merrill Lynch dismisses Russian managing director Babayan

By Andrei Skvarsky.   Bank of America Merrill Lynch has dismissed Sergey Babayan as managing director of its Russian subsidiary and co-head of the Moscow-based global markets team.   Babayan, who formerly held senior jobs at Deutsche Bank, Troika Dialog and ABN AMRO, was the only non-technical employee at Moscow’s Merrill Lynch Securities to be cut… Continue Reading

Gazprombank hires S&P's Trofimova for investor relations role

By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Gazprombank has hired Ekaterina Trofimova, a former Standard & Poor’s senior analyst, as head of investor and client relations. Trofimova, who was a Paris-based banking analyst for Russia and former Soviet states at Standard & Poor’s, has been given the position of first vice president at Gazprombank, according to a statement… Continue Reading

East Capital Explorer names Mia Jurke as CEO

Swedish investment company East Capital Explorer has appointed Mia Jurke as its new chief executive. Jurke joins East Capital Explorer to replace Gert Tiivas who joins the Swedish firms private equity business in the Baltic countries. Peter Elam Håkansson, chairman of East Capital, said: “East Capital is the investment manager of East Capital Explorer. The… Continue Reading

Danish bank Saxo opens shop in Moscow as others retrench

By Marcus Williams. Danish investment Saxo Bank is opening a new representative office in Moscow just as existing players are cutting staff in the Russian capital. Saxo, an online trading and investment specialist, said the opening is a strategic move “to strengthen and expand its position as a leading provider of online trading and investment… Continue Reading

EXCLUSIVE: Troika close to naming successor to Der Megreditchian

By Andrei Skvarsky. Troika Dialog is close to naming a replacement for Jacques Der Megreditchian, who quit as the Russian brokerage’s head of global markets last Friday, Troika insiders said. Der Megreditchian’s duties have provisionally been distributed between Alexei Zaitsev, Timur Nasardinov and Konstantin Tserazov, who were deputies to the former senior manager. Troika’s chairman… Continue Reading

BNP Paribas names Moiron country head for Russia

By Marcus Wiliams. French banking giant BNP Paribas has appointed Jean-Yves Moiron its Moscow-based country head for Russia and Belarus. Francois Regnier will replace Moiron as the country head next spring, the Paris-based bank said in the statement. The lender announced  in September that it has no plans to further develop its customer base and… Continue Reading

Renaissance hires Credit Suisse's Berent to run wealth unit

By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Renaissance Group has hired Leo Berent from Credit Suisse to lead a team providing services for ultra-high net worth individuals. Berent has been appointed as deputy head of Renaissance Advisors, the group’s division focusing on private financial and advisory services in Russia, the CIS, Africa and other geographies, Renaissance said in… Continue Reading

Renaissance parts company with two senior managers

By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Renaissance Group has parted company with Ashar Qureshi, head of its fund management business, and Yury Gruzglin, global head of fixed income, currencies and commodities. Qureshi combined his role as chief executive of Renaissance Asset Management with the position of vice chairman of Renaissance Group. Qureshi joined the group in February… Continue Reading

Raiffeisen names replacement for Russia head Pavel Gurin

By Ivan Anderzhanov. Austria’s Raiffeisen has named Sergey Monin as head of its Russian operation to replace Pavel Gurin who passed away last month after a long and brave fight with cancer. Monin, up to now the deputy chairman of Raiffeisenbank’s managing board, has been acting chairman for several months. Moscow-born Monin joined Raiffeisenbank in… Continue Reading

Merrill Lynch promises “strategic hires” in Russia

By Andrei Skvarsky. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has announced it “is strengthening its infrastructure” in Russia and is going to make “strategic hires”. Moving to new offices in central Moscow is part of BAML’s expansion in Russia, according to a statement by the bank, which recently dismissed one of its top Moscow-based managers, Sergey… Continue Reading

Aton hands senior DMA sales role to UniCredit's Somov

By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian investment firm Aton has hired Evgeny Somov from UniCredit Securities for a senior job in direct market access sales. A member of Aton’s DMA sales staff confirmed Somov’s appointment to EmergingMarkets.me. Somov’s career has included stints with Finam, Renaissance Capital and Deutsche Bank. Continue Reading

Promsvyazbank hires ex-Aton banker to run trust management arm

By Andrei Skvarsky.   Russia’s Promsvyazbank has hired Alexei Ischenko, a former senior executive at Aton, as head of its trust management division.   Ischenko’s duties include the “evolvement and implementation of the development strategy” of the division, according to a statement by Promsvyazbank, a Moscow-based lender co-owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and… Continue Reading

Otkritie nabs Natkin for New York sales position

By Marcus Williams. Russia’s Otkritie Capital has recruited J.P. Natkin from French bank Credit Agricole as director of equity sales for its new Wall Street office. J.P. Natkin, a Russia veteran with over two decades of experience, worked in Russia for the Australian resource venture capital group Vanguard Petroleum. Most recently, he served as a… Continue Reading

Russia Finance Minister Kudrin 'quits' after 11 years

By Marcus Williams. Russia’s Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, the cool-headed darling of the country’s purse-strings, has resigned after clashing with President Dmitry Medvedev. Kudrin, who ran finance since 2000, quit the government after saying he would not work under Medvedev in next year’s cabinet due to serious disagreements over spending in defense. Kudrin had indicated… Continue Reading

BNP Paribas replaces chief operating officer in Moscow

By Andrei Skvarsky. French bank BNP Paribas has appointed Palle Larsen as chief operating officer at its Russian subsidiary, having moved him over from a similar job in Paris. In his Moscow-based position Larsen, who is Danish, replaces Kieran MacMahon, who has been transferred to the French lender’s representative office in Turkey, according to Russian… Continue Reading

Russia’s sovereign private equity fund names advisers

By Andrei Skvarsky. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a sovereign institution for promoting foreign investment in Russia’s barren private equity sector, has put together an international advisory board, appointing to it company chiefs and sovereign wealth top brass from various countries. The board’s nine members, who will work on a pro bono basis, include top figures… Continue Reading

Troika’s Vardanian quits as head of Skolkovo management school

By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian brokerage Troika Dialog’s founder and chief executive, Ruben Vardanian, has stepped down as president of the Kremlin-overseen Skolkovo Moscow School of Management. Vardanian, who will remain involved with the school, heading its Committee on International Cooperation and Strategic Partnerships, has been replaced by Andrey Rappoport, one of the institution’s founding partners.… Continue Reading

RenCap hires Nomura's Shambayati to co-lead global markets

By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based Renaissance Capital has hired Soroosh Shambayati as managing director and global co-head of markets from Japan’s Nomura. Shambayati will have responsibility for fixed income, currency and commodities (FICC) in Rencap’s key geographies of Russia, the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Asia and Africa. At Nomura, he had been chairman of global emerging markets.… Continue Reading

Troika names Aton's Fedorova for business support role

Troika Dialog, the brokerage being acquired by state-controlled Sberbank, has appointed Irina Fedorova as director of business support. Fedorova, who last worked at Aton in a business support role, will be responsbile for supporting Troika’s private client division as well as “servicing private clients within the framework of the Sberbank merger”. Prior to Aton, she… Continue Reading

Ex-MICEX boss Rybnikov put at helm of St Petersburg commodity exchange

By Andrei Skvarsky. Ex-head of MICEX Alexei Rybnikov has been appointed as president of the St Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX), a commodity trading floor. SPIMEX’s board of directors unanimously put the reins in the hands of Rybnikov, who headed JP Morgan Chase’s investment banking operation in Moscow and Russia’s National Depository Centre before joining… Continue Reading