BofA's London fixed income business hit by multiple resignations ahead of Paris move

There were several resignations from Bank of America’s London macro trading business last week.

The exits included Mark Samarasinghe, a vice president (VP) level GBP swaps trader, who worked at the bank for six years and had been in London since 2014 after moving across from Australia. Samarasinghe is understood to have resigned on Friday and is no longer at the desk, but is still an employee of the bank during his notice period.

At least three other rates traders are also understood to have resigned around the same time as Samarasinghe. They are: Huw Roberts, a sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) trader, who had been working for the bank since 2012 after joining from the University of Cambridge, and Alex Purves, a flow rates trader who’d been there since graduating from University College London in 2012.

Bank of America declined to comment on the exits. They come as the bank has begun moving around 200 front office people out of London to work in its new Paris office. It’s not clear, however, if the two things are related.

While traders are leaving Bank of America in London, the bank has also been hiring in Paris. It’s understood to have recruited Raphael Benoliel, a former rates exotics trader from JPMorgan to work on the Paris rates desk.

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