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FRANKFURT / Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG is set to lose two of its most senior investment bankers in Asia as Bill Nichol and Joaquin Rodriguez Torres plan to depart this year, people familiar with the matter said.
Nichol, who runs investment banking for financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, plans to leave in May after more than 13 years with Deutsche Bank, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. He’s in talks to join a closely held financial company in a senior Asian role, one of the people said without providing details.
Tan Boon-Kee, Deutsche Bank’s Singapore-based head of client coverage for Southeast Asia, is poised to replace Nichol, the people said. She is expected to retain her Southeast Asian responsibilities in the new role, they added.
Torres, who joined Deutsche Bank a decade ago and is regional head of technology, media and telecom investment banking, is in discussions to leave the firm and is considering setting up his own fund, the people said. Both bankers are based in Hong Kong and worked at Lehman Brothers Inc. before joining the German lender.
Amy Chang, a spokeswoman at Deutsche Bank, declined to comment.
Nichol, 49, and Torres, 44, would join an exodus of senior bankers from an industry weighted down by stricter regulatory scrutiny of deals, intensifying competition from local banks and shrinking profits that have triggered bonus cuts. Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer John Cryan plans to slash the bank’s bonus pool by about 15 percent, Handelsblatt
reported this week.