When your resignation is already priced in
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People and MarketsCommentP&M Notebook

When your resignation is already priced in

Text Letter of Resignation typed on retro typewriter

EM bond investors were hardly surprised when Turkey's Lütfi Elvan threw in the towel

When Turkish finance minister Lütfi Elvan resigned on Wednesday, the country's bonds barely moved. "There aren’t many surprises left for investors from a policy making front,” an EM analyst in London told GlobalCapital. “It just further entrenches [president Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan’s views on monetary policy.”

Those unorthodox views — that high inflation is somehow caused by high interest rates, for instance — were the battleground for a struggle between Erdoğan and the country's central bank, which he appears to have won.

CEE

Having brought the central bank to heel in recent months, the president has moved on to his own cabinet. In place of Elvan, he has installed Nureddin Nebati, who seems to share his economic views, or is at least willing to humour them.

That may be a politically astute move by Nebati, who is well versed in all things political, with degrees in public administration and international relations from Istanbul University and a doctorate in political science and public administration from Kocaeli University.

Nebati has also had a chance to pick up an understanding of economics during his time as Elvan's deputy, though it is unclear at this stage how much of this has rubbed off.

Elvan is an engineer by background, having worked in the mining division of Etibank, an institution created by the Turkish state in 1935 to finance the country's natural resources sector. But he also has a master's in economics from the University of Delaware.

It must be assumed that UD adheres to a more conventional brand of economics than Erdoğan’s, as Elvan had until recently still been calling for such orthodox things as lower inflation and a stable currency. These are apparently at odds with Erdoğan's "economic war of independence."

Despite all this, a debt capital markets banker told GlobalCapital that Turkish issuers should still have access to funding. "There's one corporate we know looking and they'll be fine if they want to come," he said.

Mizuho's MENA push

In other emerging markets people news, Mizuho has further expanded its presence in the Middle East and North Africa with a senior hire from Crédit Agricole.

Abrar Hussain had been head of MENA DCM at the French bank for almost 12 years and worked at Société Générale for 10 years before that. Mizuho clearly has bold plans for the region.

There was also a big move in sub-Saharan Africa, with Deutsche Bank appointing former Barclays and Absa Group derivatives banker Saloshni Pillay as chief country officer for South Africa.

Deutsche lures back leaver

Speaking of Deutsche, could the firm have a preference for hiring back former employees? The most recent example is Thomas Schweigl, who returns to Deutsche just two years after leaving for JP Morgan.

He comes back into the fold as a managing director for DACH ECM and a specialist in Spacs. He was previously at Deutsche for 12 years.

While two examples may not be enough to prove a trend, the rehiring of Schweigl is reminiscent of another hire Deutsche made in ECM recently, though that was in New York.

The banker in question was Beau Bohm, who rejoined Deutsche in November as co-head of ECM origination and advisory in the Americas. In that case, however, there was a rather larger gap of 12 years between his departure and return.

Take a Pughe

Finally, in the loans market, syndicate and sales supremo Jonathan Pughe has landed a role at ABN Amro as a managing director in London. Pughe had previously been at NatWest for 14 years, but his role was restructured in August.

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