Distressed traderDennis Lafferty is the latest player to leave Goldman Sachs' loan desk. Market sources said Lafferty joined Deutsche Bank last week as a v.p. responsible for trading distressed bonds. He will report to John Shippee, managing director for distressed products. Ted Meyer, Deutsche spokesman, confirmed Lafferty's arrival. "We have been expanding distressed products over the past three years," he said, noting that the group now has 65 traders worldwide.
Lafferty joined Goldman's loan sales and trading team around this time last year and reported to Steve Hickey, head of the firm's loan desk. Lafferty is the sixth member of the group to leave Goldman this year. He follows Dan Allen, Roger Gilbert, Michael Henderlong and Michael Weir, who were scooped up by Morgan Stanley's expanding par team (LMW, 4/15), and fellow distressed expatriate Andrew McKnight, who went to Fir Tree Partners in February (LMW, 2/11). Thus far, Goldman has hired one replacement--Walter Levitch, who left Salomon Smith Barney in May (LMW, 5/27). Officials at Goldman did not return calls by press time.