As Citi trims staff, senior equities people are leaving in London
Something is thought to be occurring at Citi's European equities business today. People are disappearing and a RiF (reduction in force) appears to be underway.
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Before the disappearances, three people left the business of their own accords on Friday. Chris Stone, a managing director and Citi's EMEA head of high and low touch futures execution, is understood to have quit along with his reports Ben Nathan, the head of commodities high touch, and Ben Parker, the head of real money high touch.
Citi declined to comment on the Friday exits or the apparent cuts. Chris Stone is understood to have reported to Sam Baig, Citi's head of cash execution. The equities business is run by the not always popular Fater Belbachir, Citi's London-based global head of equities, who joined from Barclays in 2020 but who spent most of his career at JPMorgan. Quentin Andre has run the EMEA sales team since Citi's shakeup in 2023.
The exits of Stone, Nathan and Parker follow those of ex-Goldman hires Gordon Ball and Alastair Hawker in 2024. Ball was head of electronic execution and algorithmic trading in Citi's listed derivatives business in Europe; Hawker was head of electronic execution (futures) in North America. Ball left in August 2024. Hawker is thought to have left more recently.
The reason for the exits isn't clear. Insiders suggest there's an overriding focus on updating the technology and controls in the equities business after the failings on the Delta One desk in 2022, that there's insufficient focus on the multi-asset nature of futures, and that management keeps changing.
Citi is also understood to have recently promoted Jason Massey as co-head of prime and futures clearing alongside incumbent Jess Whittington. Last March, it hired Greg Collet from Goldman Sachs to run EMEA prime broking sales.
Hires are being made too. There are suggestions that Collet wants to hire his former Goldman colleagues now that bonuses are paid. In the meantime, Citi hired Cameron Beale from Kepler in December, Daniel Morrison from Credit Suisse (in Paris) in September, both in equities sales trading.
It's not clear how many people have been let go. We've been informed of at least one trader in equity derivatives.
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