The Royal Bank of Scotland is continuing to bulk up its loan markets group, bringing on board Andrew Rothstein as a senior v.p. from Merrill Lynch Capital and Chad Hersch as an associate v.p. from Credit Suisse First Boston.
Rothstein will focus on structuring middle-market and institutional leveraged credits reporting to Jeff Stuart, head of loan markets. Meanwhile, Hersch will report to Art de Pena andRob Gianni, co-heads of loan sales and trading, and will focus on the sales side. Hersch, who covered institutional accounts on the CSFB trading desk, joined Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 1997. He declined to comment, as did officials at RBS. Before Merrill, Rothstein worked at UBS and Scotia Capital.
RBS has been on a hiring spree in the last few months and more hires are predicted, a source familiar with the situation said. The bank is aiming to build a long-term business in the U.S and crack the top tier within the next two to three years, bankers said.
In the past month RBS has brought on board David Morin from ABN Amro, as a v.p. trading leveraged and non-leveraged loans. Marin Gagliardi joined as an associate v.p. on its syndicated loan team from BNP Paribas to concentrate on its energy business and Stuart was hired as a managing director and head of loan markets for the Americas in the summer (LMW, 7/23). Stuart was previously at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi where he was head of structuring and marketing for syndications. Gianni was hired last fall from UBS alongside de Pena from CSFB.
There have been some major strides. The bank scored a coup with a lead spot for MGM Mirage's multi-billion dollar loan backing the acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group. RBS also continues to be strong in middle-market names, most recently completing the financing for Wind Point Partners acquisition of United Subcontractors (LMW, 11/5).