Exane just poached 28 year-old equity sales trader from RBC

Do not despair: a bank is hiring. Exane BNP Paribas is continuing it's very (very) slow accretion of staff in London with the addition of a junior sales trader from HSBC and a trader from Morgan Stanley.

George Allcroft joined Exane's equity sales desk in June. Allcroft graduated from Oxford University in 2012, making him around 28. In a four-year career, Exane is the third bank he's worked for in the City: he previously spent three years at RBC Capital Markets and a year at Nomura.

Allcroft isn't Exane's only June hire. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Register suggests it's also picked up Julien Panicali, a former trader from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Panicali also seems comparatively junior, having begun his career at Goldman in 2010.

The FCA Register suggests Exane is slowly adding staff in the City: in December 2015 it had 153 registered UK employees: now it has 159. In its most recent accounts, filed for the year ending December 2015, Exane Limited (the company's London-based business) said operating profit more than doubled to €13m up from €6.4m one year earlier. The French bank had 198 UK staff in total, up from 185 one year earlier and paid them an average of €451k (£385k).

Oliver Rolfe, founder of equities-focused London recruitment firm the Spartan Partnership, says most banks hiring now are filling gaps rather than expanding: "Even in a downturn there are holes that need to be filled."

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