BAML's head of emerging markets trading has left before bonus time

Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s head of European emerging markets, Babak Eftekhari, has departed.

Eftekhari, who joined from Goldman Sachs in 2013, left earlier this month, according to filings on the Financial Conduct Authority register in the UK. Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment.

Eftekhari was previously head of emerging markets FX options trading a Goldman Sachs and co-head of EM FX spot trading. He worked at Goldman Sachs for nearly 16 years until his departure in July 2013.

He was one of a number of senior FX traders to leave Goldman Sachs for BAML in 2013. Jim Coulton joined as head of forex trading and Paul Johnson, head of foreign exchange options for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, arrived shortly after.

Eftekhari has a PhD in Empirical Finance from Cambridge University. Unusually, he continued with his education whilst at Goldman Sachs, achieving a first class law degree from the Open University and a BA in the History of Art from Birkbeck University.