Five of Merrill Lynch's Singapore-based currency trading and sales team opted to take voluntary redundancy packages rather than move to Tokyo, according to Richard Mei, spokesman at in Tokyo. Toby Williams, director and head of foreign exchange trading, Chanelle Hughes, foreign exchange sales and Fidelis Oruche, currency options trader, as well as two spot traders, all accepted redundancy packages, added an official at the firm. They reported to Masayoshi Takegawa, director and head of foreign exchange in Tokyo. Takegawa did not return calls and Mei declined comment on which employees accepted the package.
Mei said Merrill still has a regional sales team but trading is now being handled from Tokyo. He continued that management decided to have a central location for foreign exchange trading rather than have two trading operations in Asia, declining to outline the reasons behind this decision. In October Merrill announced that all employees are eligible for voluntary redundancy.
