Ex-Citi trader is building out French agency brokerage in London

It turns out that it's not just U.S. banks' credit trading desks that are hiring in 2020 - Aurel BGC, a French agency broking firm, is also building out its London office under a former head of investment grade credit sales at Citi. 

John Ream arrived at Aurel BCG this week as a managing director in secondary credit sales trading. He was joined by fellow MDs Kayyor Rao and Neil Robertson. The three formerly worked together at Stifel Financial in London.

Ream says the intention is to build out a London agency bond trading operation to accompany Aurel's successful French business. "We will be covering real money and hedge fund clients all the way through to distressed investors. Our intention is to get our clients the best execution and prices possible." 

The company intends to hire five to ten experienced bond sales people with strong books of contacts. It already recruited Greg Sadler, a former managing director of credit trading at HSBC, and Sam Cowan, a veteran bond manager at UBS and Jefferies.

"We're starting from a position of advantage where we have a very strong French franchise and are looking to build a London business onto this European operation," says Ream. More hires are likely soon.

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