Raphael Geys, head of European fixed-income sales at UBS in London, has left the firm. Geys found fame in the derivatives markets when he was at Merrill Lynch by generating huge profits during the 1990s through interest rate derivatives transactions with the Kingdom of Belgium, one of the first sovereigns to enter the derivatives markets. Sarah Small, a spokeswoman at UBS in London, confirmed Geys has left but declined further comment.
UBS watchers said Geys' departure stems from a reshuffle more than a year ago that saw Tim Fredrickson, head of interest rates, move aside and Robert Wolf and Michael Hutchins become global heads of fixed income. Before the reorg, Geys was global head of fixed-income derivatives marketing and structuring. He reported to David Shulman, head of fixed-income sales.
Geys left Merrill in 1998 after a 10-year stint when a bank wide reorganization--prompted in part by the Russian financial crisis--led to several senior derivatives staffers quitting. After leaving Merrill Geys spent a year out of the industry before joining UBS.
The Kingdom of Belgium trades turned sour in 1996 and the sovereign announced it had the equivalent of more than $1.2 billion in unrealized losses from trades meant to hedge its foreign currency exposure.
