BNP Paribas has hired Eero Polus, v.p. of foreign exchange markets at Citibank, as senior v.p. of spot and derivative foreign exchange sales in San Francisco. He started in the new position last week and reports to Alain Pigois, head of foreign exchange in San Francisco. Polus, who was with Citibank for nearly 15 years, serving the last six in its San Francisco office, is BNP Paribas' latest hire in an ongoing expansion of its San Francisco global foreign exchange division. He joins a team of four marketing and sales professionals.
Pigois said the size of the market justifies expanding the West Coast foreign exchange group, adding, "Coverage by three or four people was just too slim to keep in contact with clients and their coverage needs." The bank hired Polus now because it recently received approval from the Paris office to hire another salesperson. The trading and pricing of derivatives for the region is done in New York. Polus said he joined BNP Paribas to further expand his emerging markets customer base, a move he was unable to pursue while at Citibank. Polus declined to comment further on the reasons behind his departure.
"We've really been pushing hard to get a high caliber person in San Francisco. Eero fits perfect," Pigois said.
At Citibank, Polus reported to Jan Bak, regional head of foreign exchange. Bak said Polus will be replaced. He declined further comment.
