Financial News: HSBC Names Co-Head Of Financial Institutions

14th Jun 2010 01:01

By Matt Turner Of FINANCIAL NEWS HSBC has appointed a former head of the financial institutions group for Europe at Lehman Brothers and then Nomura as global co-head of its FIG business, according to sources familiar with the hire. Giles Harrison left Nomura in February, according to the Financial Services Authority register of authorised persons, and has joined HSBC in New York, according to three sources familiar with the hire. HSBC declined to comment. He has joined as global co-head of FIG, working with Mark Stadler, who is based in London. Harrison's appointment is a coup for HSBC, which has increased its ambitions for the investment bank division in recent months. In the US, it hired Thomas O'Leary from Jefferies as the new head for its Americas cash equities in March. O'Leary had joined Jefferies only four months earlier from JP Morgan. The same month, the bank hired John Crompton, the outgoing head of market investments at UKFI, the UK government body responsible for managing the state's shareholdings in the banking sector. HSBC is ranked 15th globally for FIG investment banking revenues for the year to date, according to data provider Dealogic, generating $163 million. Bank of America Merrill Lynch tops the rankings, with $614 million in revenues. HSBC missed a sizeable potential fee pot when UK insurer Prudential withdrew its takeover offer for Asian insurer AIA, as it was one of three lead banks on the aborted $21 billion rights issue to finance the acquisition. With Harrison's departure, Nomura's business is now headed by Hubert Bastide, who was hired last year from Bank of America Merrill Lynch to act as co-head of FIG across Europe, the Middle East and Africa alongside Harrison. Last week, it emerged that Gilles Graham, one of Harrison's former colleagues in the FIG team at Lehman Brothers and Nomura, had joined Citigroup as chairman of FIG for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Web site: www.efinancialnews.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 13, 2010 20:01 ET (00:01 GMT)