BNP Paribas is looking to hire a senior interest-rate sales professional for its new fixed-income sales desk in San Francisco, said Ken Austin, director and head of the desk. "We continue to look to hire, with interest-rate sales being the immediate focus," he added. Austin is moving from head of credit derivatives in New York to run the San Francisco sales office.
"We've been expanding our U.S. credit business over the last several years and the San Francisco office is a natural extension of that initiative," Austin said. He noted BNP Paribas wanted to better serve big players in the bond business on the West Coast, such as Pacific Investment Management Co. and Western Asset Management Co. "We have added many new clients and there are a multitude of untapped opportunities out there at the moment," he said.
The plans come as BNP Paribas has also hired Deborah Kelley as a director of the institutional sales group. Kelley was previously managing director of ABN AMRO's fixed-income sales desk and was let go when ABN AMRO closed its San Francisco sales office earlier this year (BW, 2/13). Jonathan Saunders, fixed-income sales associate at Banc One Capital Markets, has also been added to BNP Paribas' West Coast team as an associate.