Rout at Mizuho Securities as senior fixed income traders disappear

Something is afoot at Mizuho Securities in London. Following the disappearance of London-based head of fixed income Zahra Peerbhoy in February, insiders say other heads of businesses have vanished too.

The exits include Michael Armer, Mizuho's head of credit trading, and Tanya Kiefer, Mizuho's head of fixed income credit and emerging markets sales.  

Mizuho confirmed their exits. Armer's LinkedIn profile says he left in May.

Armer and Kiefer were protégés of Peerbhoy, having been hired during her reign after previously working with her at Credit Suisse. Armer arrived in February 2018 and Kiefer arrived in May. The tenure of both was therefore rather shortlived.

The disappearances follow complaints about Peerbhoy's time at Mizuho. She was said to have been a divisive figure at Mizuho, partly thanks to the recruitment of former CS colleagues. During her tenure, various longserving Mizuho traders moved on.

One of those, Michel Ramon, is now rumoured to be coming back again. Ramon didn't respond to a request to comment, but there are unconfirmed suggestions that he'll be returning to his old job as head of credit sales sometime soon (instead of joining Jefferies as previously planned....).

A spokeswoman for Mizuho said: "Michel Ramon is an employee of Mizuho International, he never left. More generally we will always welcome back Mizuho alumni who have a successful record of serving our clients and represent our values." Ramon resigned from Mizuho in February 2019, so was presumably on gardening leave...

Mizuho reported its quarterly results today and said profits are likely to be below projections.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available.

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.)