MPS Finance, the investment banking subsidiary of Italian Monte dei Paschi di Siena, has lost two senior members of its Siena-based capital markets team as the bank readies to restructure its investment banking activities.
Anna di Paolo, head of securitization at MPS Finance, has left for merchant bank Dexia Crediop in Rome. She said she will head up a four-person securitization team that is already in place, and will report to Thierry Durand, head of public finance. Durand did not return calls.
MPS Finance's head of debt origination capital markets, Gianluca Savelli, has also quit the firm. He would not divulge where he is headed, saying negotiations are still underway. He had been in charge of debt origination for financial institutions and corporates, and noted that under the new regime MPS might put greater emphasis on small- and medium-sized enterprises.
A board meeting to finalize MPS's new approach to investment banking is scheduled for Sept. 24, according to an official at the company. Marco Morelli, chief executive of MPS Finance, did not return calls.
At MPS Finance, di Paolo and Savelli both reported to Alberto Basadonna, head of capital markets. Basadonna emphasized business continues apace for the capital markets team and maintained the departures were unrelated to the internal situation at MPS.
The two most recent moves were preceded by the departure of Rino Pucci, head of structured credit trading at MPS Finance. Pucci recently started at Commerzbank Securities in London as a senior credit structurer, reporting to Mike Staveley, head of credit trading. "Rino's hire is part of Commerzbank's steady organic growth in this area," said Staveley.
At MPS Finance, Pucci reported to Alessandro Giudice, head of credit trading. Giudice did not return calls.