Barclays has appointed Dan Miller as head of equity sales trading for Hong Kong, China and Asean, continuing the UK bank's staff overhaul in the Asia-Pacific region.
Miller, who started in the newly created role about 10 days ago and is based in Hong Kong, is responsible for managing and developing the bank’s high and low touch execution capability (orders that need greater human intervention and trades that are more automated).
Barclays covered the markets previously but did not have a nominated regional head. Miller reports to Robin Newman, Barclays' head of equities distribution, Asia ex-Japan and global emerging markets.
In an email to FinanceAsia, Newman said Barclays has strong capabilities in sales trading across India, Taiwan and Korea, and that the newly created regional position would complement this.
“In Dan Miller, we have hired somebody who has 25+ years of experience, a deep knowledge of Asia and who is well known to market participants. He will be a valuable addition to the franchise as we look to continue gaining market share in our key markets,” Newman said.
Miller most recently worked at BNP Paribas Securities Asia as global head of execution sales, Asia-Pacific. Prior to this he was head of sales trading, global emerging and Asian markets at Deutsche Securities, Asia. He has also worked at Barings Securities and WI Carr.
Choppy waters
The move comes as Barclays -- globally and in Asia -- navigates some choppy waters, with key executives leaving the bank over the past month.
Robert Morrice, chairman and chief executive of Barclays Asia-Pacific, announced his retirement this month after 17 years at the bank, while Jason Rynbeck, Barclays’ vice-chairman of mergers and acquisitions for Asia-Pacific, left the bank for another firm on May 8.
Meanwhile, Matthew Ginsburg is stepping down from his role as regional head of investment banking to take a position within the firm outside the region.
There have also been hires.
Barclays has appointed Vikesh Kotecha and John Chang to head its Asia-Pacific equities business in a newly split role. They replace Nick Wright, who retired in March as the bank’s head of equities for Asia-Pacific.
Kotecha, 38, continues in his previous role as head of equities trading but now also co-leads the entire regional equities business. He oversees risk management and financial resource management in the region, based in Hong Kong, and reports to Conor Brown, head of markets, Asia-Pacific.
Chang, 46, has been named head of equities distribution Asia-Pacific and will move in the summer to Hong Kong from Seoul, where he was Barclays' Korea country manager. He reports to Mike di Iorio, head of equities distribution, who is based in London.
Barclays this month confirmed it would cut 7,000 investment banking jobs by 2016 and create a bad bank of unwanted assets, including non-core commodities.
Following a strategic review, the UK bank said it would cut a total of 19,000 jobs over the next three years and dramatically slim down in an effort to improve results.
Barclays announced a 41% fall in revenues at its core fixed income trading business this month.
