Bank One is rebuilding its foreign exchange options business and has hired Justin Foley, global head of foreign exchange options at Bank of America in Chicago, in a similar role to expand the team in Chicago and London. Foley said the bank is planning to hire two or three options traders in London, including someone to head the desk, and three or four traders in Chicago. The firm plans to have half of the hires done by the end of the first quarter and most in place by the end of the second quarter.
In May, the firm shut down its strategic risk management advisory department in London, which dealt with fx strategies, but had no trading book. At the time, officials said the department was closed because Bank One wanted to move its core operations back to the U.S. following layoffs in its London office. An individual familiar with the situation said Bank One closed the group because chairman and ceo Jamie Dimon decided the merged entity should focus on combining its credit portfolio before it turned to other markets, when he joined in March 2000 from Citigroup, where he was a president.
John Anderson, head of interest rate derivatives and global foreign exchange trading at Bank One in Chicago, said the bank had focused on merger related issues since the merger in October 1998. He said the rebuilding of the team is also part of the firm's plan to go after business from large corporates and institutions, as the firm has traditionally had a middle-market client base. He explained that now is a good time to hire as quality staffers are being laid off from other firms and are looking for work.
Foley, who reports to Anderson, left Bank of America in June because the group was being relocated to New York. He was replaced by Bronia Jenkins, chief marketing officer at Volbroker (DW, 7/15).
