The most positive man in Deutsche Bank's U.S. equities business has left the bank

As Deutsche Bank's bonus announcements approach tomorrow, there have been some curious departures in its equities business. 

Financial News reported earlier that Glen Fairbairn, co-head of Deutsche’s strategic equity transactions group in Europe, is leaving, along with Francisco Moreno Galindo, a director on the same time. ZeroHedge subsequently reported that Deutsche Bank's co-head of U.S. equity sales is leaving too. Insiders say this refers to Craig Bench, who had worked for Deutsche since 2002.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the exits. They come after last week's departure of Yao-Chung King ('Yao King'), Deutsche's longstanding head of U.S. program trading and Tak Sugahara, an equities MD who joined from BAML in 2017. King is thought to have found a better job on the buy-side and Sugahara is said to have come to the end of his contract.

The reason for Bench's departure is unclear. His former colleagues say he will be hugely missed. - "He was just a great guy," says one. "He came as an intern and never left. He was the biggest cheerleader on the floor and was positive all the time, which isn't easy here."

Bench is reportedly close to several people who left Deutsche Bank for UBS and the supposition is that he may resurface there soon. Last month, Peter Selman, global head of equities at Deutsche Bank said the bank was looking for junior equities talent. This followed Selman's previous assertion that he would be all about hiring underrated players rather than expensive stars. 

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