Head of cash equities said to leave Exane BNP despite award success

Insiders at Exane BNP Paribas say Vincent Rouviere, head of cash equities trading at the bank, has left, "suddenly and surprisingly."

Exane BNP Paribas declined to comment on the apparent exit and Rouviere didn't respond to a request to clarify his position. Rouviere's phone at BNP Exane goes through to voicemail.

His apparent departure comes after BNP was named"Best Overall Broker",  best house for "Overall Research," and best house for "Sector Research" at this week's Extel awards. 

It's not clear what Rouviere might be doing next. Exane insiders say he joined the bank as an intern in the 1990s before becoming head of research and then head of all cash equities.

Exane has dominated Extel's widely regarded awards for two years, since taking the crown from Morgan Stanley. Rouviere's apparent exit follows the introduction of MiFID II in Europe in January 2018.  Although some equity researchers suggest the rules have benefited research teams, which can prove their worth now clients are paying for their services directly, the rules have coincided with redundancies across the industry in equity sales and what J.P. Morgan investment bank CEO Daniel Pinto recently described as a 25% reduction in research spending.

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