Hoyle Departs Bankgesellschaft On Offer To Join NationsBank

Albert Hoyle has resigned as head of FX at Bankgesellschaft Berlin in London, reportedly on an offer to join NationsBank, sources say. David Clark, chief executive and general manager at Bankgesellschaft, confirms Hoyle's departure, adding that he was responsible for trading, sales and product development and reported to himself and co-manager Yves Dermaux.

Sources close to NationsBank say Hoyle received an "outstanding offer" of a senior position, but that he has not yet signed the contract.

NationsBank's London and European FX director Michael Cornford was on holiday last week and global FX sales chief Richard Crosby was in Singapore and could not be reached for comment by press time. Hoyle was between jobs and unavailable for comment. NationsBanc-CRT president in Chicago, Rick Smith, did not return calls.

NationsBank recently restructured its forex division following the departure of its global foreign exchange manager in Chicago, Paul Thrush, and two colleagues (FXW, January 8). Thrush's duties were split between Crosby, global options chief Mike Kukanza and Cornford, who is also responsible for global market making.

At the time, Cornford told FX Week that Thrush would not be replaced and that he didn't anticipate any additional hires after 1995's "aggressive hiring programme," which put the bank "up to our full complement."

But sources say NationsBank is still on the move, with hires slated for both London and Singapore. In Singapore, sources say the bank is looking to beef up and that the treasury manager and chief dealer Michael Kemp no longer holds that position, but is now working on "special projects" with the branch manager.

Clark says Hoyle's departure was "an amicable one" and that the bank was sorry to lose him. "We regret Hoyle's departure as he helped us set up the foreign exchange side here," he adds.

Hoyle just joined the bank late last summer, when he moved from HSBC Markets in Hong Kong, where he was chief dealer (FXW, August 14).

Prior to joining Bankgesellschaft, Clark was European treasurer for HSBC Holdings in London (FXW, January 16).

Hoyle's departure has not affected the bank's plans to strengthen its FX operations, says Clark. "There's no worry on our part on this recent departure as the bank has enough support on the FX side until we have all our infrastructure up and running," he adds. "There is no need to replace him at the moment."

Bankgesellschaft's core businesses in London are treasury, capital markets and securities, including foreign exchange, money markets, derivatives and fixed income.

Bankgesellschaft Berlin is the investment banking division of the group formed by the merger in 1994 of the Berliner Bank, Landesbank Berlin and Berlin Hypotheken Bank.

The bank's structure is such that product heads report jointly to Clark and Dermaux. Clark says a currency options desk is planned, but not yet up and running.

"The FX options desk is entirely contingent on the new dealing room systems," he says, adding that the bank is still in the building phase and doesn't have all of its systems in place yet.

Bankgesellschaft is making a sizeable investment in its efforts to build a treasury function, including new dealing rooms. The final decision on systems will be made by the end of this year, Clark adds.

The bank has kept some of the previous Berliner Bank forex team of roughly 10 traders. "We still need to increase the number of traders by the end of this year," says Clark. "At the moment, we're putting our infrastructure in place and we're not in any mad rush."