Royal Bank of Scotland is looking to hire two fixed income sales professionals for Germany and plans to move the team from London to Frankfurt in August to be closer to clients, according to Stefan Dreesbach, head of origination for covered bonds and frequent borrowers in London. "The move is part of RBS's increased focus on continental Europe, he explained. "We already have financial markets teams in place in Italy and France, and to a certain extent Spain," he added. The initial focus would be on the liquid flow business, Dreesbach said, adding RBS plans to have a team of 10 in place by year-end.
RBS last week hired two senior covered bond traders who are specialists in the German market--Karsten Walprecht from DZ Bank in Frankfurt, and Oliver Welzel from Barclays Capital in Frankfurt. "Covered bonds is an area where RBS wants to be strategically involved, and is an important addition to the frequent borrower business we have established in agencies, supra-sovereigns and municipals," Dreesbach observed.