J.P. Morgan just hired an FX salesperson from Nomura and an IBD VP from Barclays

J.P. Morgan is hiring in London. OK, it can't be said to be doing so "aggressively", but it is doing a bit of hiring - even in fixed income.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Register, mediated by financial services M&A boutique IMAS, shows that J.P. Morgan added Selva Gonca on 5 January. Gonca previously spent two years working for Nomura International and nearly four years at Commerzbank. At Nomura, she was a vice president in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) FX sales. It's not clear what her role will be at J.P. Morgan, but we assume that it will be similar.

J.P. Morgan also boosted its London IBD business with the addition of Alexander Voigt, a former vice president in investment banking at Barclays. A graduate of the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany, Voigt had worked for Barclays since 2008.

Nomura made a series of redundancies in its fixed income business in the second half of last year, and Barclays in a period of upheaval following the appointment of new CEO Jes Staley, who's due to announce (yet another) new strategy for the bank in March.

J.P. Morgan is a steady ship by comparison. In December, CFO Marianne Lake said the bank's fixed income traders could have a comparatively good year in 2016 as rivals in the market finally fall by the wayside. The addition of two VPs comes as London recruiters say VP hiring is going to be the "sweet spot" for 2016, with all banks chasing the top performers at this level.

Photo credit: JP Morgan by Thomas Hawk is licensed under CC BY 2.0.