Nomura hires 10 traders to build out its FX-focused macro desks

Bloomberg

Nomura Holdings Inc. has hired four traders from Citigroup Inc., and six others from elsewhere, as it rebuilds its macro desks globally with a focus on foreign exchange.
Dipak Shah, Sidi Mohamed Saaf, Matthew Rupsis and Christopher Torrington have recently joined Nomura from Citigroup in a variety of roles to help the Japanese lender boost its forward and options forex trading desks in London, New York and Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Shah will be European head of foreign exchange options trading based in
London, the people said.
Representatives for Nomura and Citigroup has declined to comment.
The hiring comes after the Tokyo-based lender tries to move on from a multibillion-dollar hit related to its dealings with Archegos Capital Management, which collapsed last year. Nomura saw growth in certain macro products in foreign exchange and emerging markets in its most recent earnings, yet its fixed income trading revenue slipped 5% from a year ago amid a “challenging quarter.”
Banks’ trading desks have been benefiting from higher activity as markets react to interest rate rises and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also face potential blow-ups in the fast-moving markets. Barclays Plc made over $600 million in emerging-markets trading, Bloomberg News has reported.
The world’s biggest investment banks generated about $6.7 billion from dealing in currencies in the first quarter of 2022, a 37% increase on the same period a year ago, according to data from Coalition Greenwich. That’s slightly higher than the $6.6 billion they made during the frantic early months of 2020, the data show. The JPMorgan Global FX Volatility Index recently hit the highest since the end of March 2020.
Nomura has been beefing up its presence in foreign exchange trading in the last year after hiring Kevin Connors as European head of foreign exchange and emerging markets in London. This is the second round of hiring under Connors, who last summer appointed ten traders in London and New York.