SEB closes voice trading desk in New York

Swedish bank SEB has closed its foreign exchange voice-trading desk in New York as it shifts its focus in the US to electronic trading. The closure of the desk has led to the departure of Janerec Emberg, who headed the desk, and traders Jack Peene and Scott Linkowski, who both reported to Emberg.

SEB will retain its FX e-trading and sales teams in New York, but manual trading will now be covered by staff in the bank's headquarters in Stockholm. Robert Celsing, global head of FX and commodities in Stockholm, says the move has been driven by increased demand for electronic trading from its US clients.

"The reason for the closure is that the number of e-trades carried out is increasing. We still have a global strategy of expanding, and are applying to become a registered swap dealer in the US, so we haven't cut our global ambitions. It's due to the fact that more and more trading is electronic," says Celsing.

Meanwhile, SEB has expanded its London team with the appointment of Jie Dong in hedge fund sales, focusing on Nordic products. Dong started on October 21, and reports to Shaun Barham, head of foreign exchange for London. Barham, who was promoted to the role in January, says the appointment is part of the bank's strategy to leverage its Nordic expertise to expand its international client base.

Dong previously worked in emerging market sales at Société Générale in London, but has spent most of her career at Citi, where she worked most recently in global macro sales, covering European hedge funds.