George Polychronopoulos, senior managing director and head of interest rate trading at Bear Stearns in London, has left the firm. Polychronopoulos reported to Sean Hamidi, head of fixed-income trading. John Knight, spokesman in London, would not comment on why Polychronopoulos left or if he would be replaced. Hamidi did not return calls. Polychronopoulos could not be reached for comment.
Traders said that Bear Stearns is not a large participant in the interest rate swaps market and so they have not noticed a difference in the firm's activity since Polychronopoulos' departure. "I saw them in the market a bit, doing trading for their own book, but they don't have a big client business," said one trader, who said if the firm is scaling back on trading it will not affect the market significantly.
