Primus Guaranty, a U.S. financial with a credit-default swap portfolio of USD12.2 billion, is gearing up to launch a credit derivative business in Europe and is recruiting staff for a London office.
Zachary Snow, spokesman in New York, said the firm sells protection on European names, but wants to hire a team of at least five staff in the U.K. to tap local knowledge. "We want to expand the list of countries we service and the entities we can write protection on," he said, adding, "Europe is a key centre and we want to follow key innovations there."
Snow declined to name potential hires, but said interviews had been conducted over the past few months. The outpost will operate as an office of Primus Asset Management, which manages Primus Financial Products' CDS business and recently started acting as a third-party collateralized debt obligation manger for U.S firms. Snow noted the London team could evolve to include CDO management, but said this was a secondary aim.
Thomas Jasper, ceo of Primus, was on holiday and could not be contacted for comment.
