Wachovia closes London FX

LONDON -- US bank Wachovia Securities has closed its London FX desk as a result of its merger with First Union Bank, a spokesperson at Wachovia in Charlotte, North Carolina, told FX Week.

The closure entailed four job losses. Treasurer Tony Mulville, FX sales dealer Ken Pringle, FX forwards trader Tina Smith and money markets dealer Lisa Horsham have all left the bank, said the spokesperson.

The move leaves Wachovia with no FX trading presence in London, although some currency operations for international correspondent banking remain, which were previously part of First Union's London operation.

Wachovia Securities' foreign exchange trading is now managed from the Charlotte office, under new head of FX Mark Gargano, former FX manager at First Union.

The integration of Wachovia and First Union's FX teams follows the completion of the merger begun in September 2001. FX trading for the combined bank comes under the umbrella of Wachovia Securities, although other parts of the bank may engage in FX trading on an ad hoc basis, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, last week Wachovia appointed a new chief economist. John Silvia has joined the bank in Charlotte and will report to Steve Kohnlhagen, head of fixed income at Wachovia Securities.

Silvia joins from the US Senate, where he worked as chief economist of the Senate Banking Committee and senior economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the Senate. He has also previously worked at Harris Bank, now part of Bank of Montreal.