Two top Deutsche Bank equity derivatives MDs quit for Morgan Stanley

The exits at Deutsche Bank continue. Insiders say some of the German bank's most senior equity derivatives professionals in Europe have left today, seemingly for Morgan Stanley.

The departures include Sean Flanagan, previously global head of equity structuring at Deutsche Bank, plus Antti Kari, a managing director in equity derivative sales. Several equity derivatives professionals are rumoured to have left too.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the exits. Morgan Stanley didn't respond to a request to comment on its alleged hires.

Flanagan had been at Deutsche Bank since 2010, when he joined from Citi. Kari joined from Merrill Lynch in 2011 and was promoted to managing director in March. Her exit suggest Deutsche is losing staff it might like to keep.

As we reported earlier today, equity derivatives is a hot market this year: Coalition says equity derivatives were up 56% year-on-year in the first quarter. Morgan Stanley would therefore not be alone in hiring.

Deutsche Bank is in the process of  making 7,000 people redundant across the organisation under new CEO Christian Sewing. Around 5,000 are expected to come from the investment bank and Sewing has said he plans to make the "vast majority" of the front office cuts by July. 

Despite the layoffs, Deutsche is said to be fighting hard to keep staff who are core to its new strategy. Headhunters said the German bank has been offering buy-backs of 50% or more to senior staff who threaten to quit. Some are leaving anyway, spurred on by the low DB share price and uncertainty about the bank's future.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)