Merrill Lynch has hired Takuya Iwasaki, v.p. in foreign exchange at Morgan Stanley, as a director of foreign exchange, handling options trading in Tokyo. He reports to Masayoshi Takegawa, head of foreign exchange trading in Tokyo.
Takegawa said Iwasaki replaces Fidelis Oruche, currency options trader in Singapore, who resigned along with a four-strong fx spot trading and sales team in Singapore. The team opted to accept voluntary redundancy packages rather than move to Tokyo, where the Asia currency trading operation was consolidated (DW, 12/8). Takegawa noted that no additional hires for the trading desk will be made in the near future, declining further comment.
At Morgan Stanley Iwasaki reported to Joseph Kraft, head of foreign exchange in Tokyo. Kraft did not return calls. Prior to his two years at Morgan Stanley, Iwasaki said he traded currency options at the Industrial Bank of Japan--now called Mizuho Bank--for eight years.
Additionally, Merrill has relocated David Dimmock, director of foreign exchange sales in Singapore, to the Tokyo desk in a similar role covering global accounts. Dimmock declined comment. An official at the firm noted that the global accounts operation in Asia was consolidated in Tokyo while institutional sales and private client foreign exchange trading for Asia are still handled from Singapore. "The regional trading hub is now in Tokyo but we still have a significant presence in Singapore," the official added.
