J.P. Morgan and Citi are adding directors to electronic equities teams

It's a tough time to be a very senior cash equities salesperson who's out of the market.  If you're a mid-ranking electronic equities salesperson or trader who's in a job, however, you're in luck. Banks are hiring.

Both Citi and J.P. Morgan have recently made director and executive director-level additions to their electronic teams in London.

Citi is understood to have hired Joseph Sidibe, a highly experienced electronic equities trading from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Sidibe had been at BAML 10 years, after joining from State Street in 2007. BAML confirmed his exit although Citi didn't respond to a query about his arrival. Sidibe's said to be on gardening leave and is expected to join in London office in the coming months.

J.P. Morgan pulled a director out of BAML. It's just hired Nikki Acton, a director and BAML's head of international electronic sales in New York. Acton's joining as an executive director and head of global liquidity solutions in J.P. Morgan's New York office.

The moves come as various banks strengthen their electronic trading capabilities ahead of MiFID II and in response to rising equities revenues and squeezed and margins.  As we reported earlier this month, Barclays is said to be rethinking its U.S. equities trading business and has brought in John Neary, former head of equities trading for the Americas to consult on the project. Joe Mecane, Barclays' former head of electronic equities quit for Citadel Securities a few weeks ago, leaving a hole at the top of the business, which has been problematic for the British bank ever since the dark pool scandal of 2014.

One headhunter who covers electronic equities trading in London says UBS and Goldman are also looking to strengthen their teams. "Electronic trading is still an area of growth," he says.

Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com

Photo credit: NOW HIRING by ***Karen is licensed under CC BY 2.0.