BZW Closes Sydney FX Trading Desk Moving Responsibility To Singapore

Barclays de Zoete Wedd (BZW), the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank, has closed its FX trading operation in Sydney as part of an overall regional centralization, officials confirm. All trading will now handled from the bank's hub in Singapore, although a sales desk will remain in Sydney.

"What we have done is similar to what a lot of banks have done in the region," says Klaus-Peter Moeritz, BZW's European FX director. "It's something of a trend to have centralized trading and decentralized sales."

BZW now has only sales offices in Sydney and Hong Kong, but Tokyo retains a local currency trading desk, he says. Moeritz says that the move affects three traders, Andy Spencer, Martin Boyle, the chief dealer, and a junior trader. The three will all probably remain in Sydney for personal reasons, but Moeritz says it is so far unclear whether or not they will stay with the bank in other capacities.

Boyle is Australian, but Spencer is British and has a high profile in the market, having served in various BZW offices, including London, New York and Tokyo. The bank's sales team, currently two people in Sydney, may be expanded to three, he says.

Responsibility for currency trading in the Australian dollar for the region has now moved to Singapore, where the bank may be taking on another dealer to handle it, says Moeritz. BZW hired a new regional FX director in April, Lee Mon Son, who came from Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) in Tokyo to replace Robert Mainprize, who was recalled to London.

Lee brought with him seven traders from UBS and has since embarked on an expansion programme, particularly in emerging markets and in sales, says Moeritz.

BZW reported a 10 per cent drop in FX dealing income for the interim period earlier this month, to £55 million from £61 million in 1995 (FXW, August 12). The dropoff contrasts with the results of the U.K.'s other major clearing banks, which chiefly showed an increase in FX dealing income over the period.