ABN Amro is not trading European high yield since the members of its approximately 10-strong London-based high-yield team have either left the firm or joined other departments, says one its former analysts. The group was integrated into the firm's leveraged finance unit last month (BW, 1/28). Vincent Keith, head of high-yield trading, and Ray Stotlemeyer, head of high-yield research, have both resigned, the analyst says. Members of the team were given the option of a severance package or reassignment. "[ABN is] not trading high yield," he says, adding that eventually high-yield sales and trading will be migrated to other fixed-income desks. Alex Evans, an ABN spokesman, denied the firm had suspended trading high yield--even temporarily, however other market players say the firm's absence is hardly noticeable.
ABN's European HY Trading Said To Be Dissolved