UBS poaches senior female banker from RBS to lead leveraged finance

Royal Bank of Scotland has lost a long-serving female managing director who has moved to UBS to lead its leveraged finance origination business.

Sarah Mackey, who had been at RBS since 2003, joined UBS earlier this month has co-head of leveraged finance origination, based out of its London office.

Mackey was managing director and head of financial sponsors coverage for EMEA at RBS. She moved across to this role in August 2011, having previously worked in its debt capital markets team.

Senior female investment bankers are still as rare as hens’ teeth. Mackey’s departure comes amid yet another big restructuring at RBS’s investment bank. RBS said in March that 80-90% of people working in its investment bank could lose their jobs – or around 14,000 people – so it seems inevitable that senior bankers will look for new opportunities.

UBS, meanwhile, has been embarking on a long-term expansion of its investment bank, primarily at the senior end. In the U.S., its senior ranks have expanded by 20-25% over the past 12 months and the focus on ‘grey-haired’ advisory staff has meant prominent appointments in its London office throughout 2014 and into 2015.

Most recently, it hired Sarah Downie as head of liability management.