Three heads of debt teams at Commerzbank have quit the firm. Marc Bajer, global head of debt and structured finance origination, Arun Mirchandani, head of European structured finance origination, and Richard Curtis, head of London ABS syndicate, all resigned from the firm, according to a Commerzbank spokeswoman. Robert Mizrahi an official in the securitization group who reported to Mirchandani, also quit. The staffers could not be reached by press time. Reasons for the departures could not immediately be determined.
The three are the latest in a long list, including Ricardo Pascoe, global head of foreign exchange, alternative investment strategies and proprietary trading (DW, 8/8), to quit the German bank.
Roman Schmidt, global head of debt capital markets in Frankfurt, said, "Everything is about asset securitization, slimming down the balance sheet and setting off risks. ABS is crucial to this." He added, "This is why we reacted so quickly to replace them."
Iain Barbour, global head of structured finance research, will become acting head of origination and carry out Bajer's duties. Nicolaus Trautwein and Juergen Mahler, in the structured finance origination group, will run ABS activity in Frankfurt and report straight to Schmidt. Damien Saunders, Curtis' deputy, will take over as the acting head of the DCM syndicate desk in London.
Bajer reported to Mark Eban, global head of capital markets. Curtis and Mirchandani reported to Schmidt. Schmidt was traveling and could not be reached by press time.