LONDON (Reuters) – China’s ICBC Standard Bank has let go three precious metals traders in New York and will move its Dubai business to London, concentrating its activities in Europe and Asia, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.
“Three precious traders are leaving in New York and the fourth one has been offered a job in London… The focus is shifting to London and obviously Asia,” one source said.
ICBC, the world’s largest bank by assets, completed the acquisition of a 60 percent stake in Standard Bank’s global markets arm, including its precious metals business, in 2015.
“The continued evolution of the bank’s precious metals capabilities will lead to some staff reorganisation,” the bank told Reuters in an emailed statement.
ICBC Standard Bank, which does not have a licence to trade in the United States, said “it has exclusively traded on the London balance sheet since 2012”.
The head of precious metals sales and trading in Americas Willy Pfiffner, according to his Linkedin profile, and traders Tom o’Keene and Gary Domenico are leaving the firm, while trader and salesman Tom Bible has been offered a position in London, sources said.
ICBC Standard Bank will keep three precious metals traders in London and three in Singapore, one of the sources said.
The Dubai business, where the bank has an office, will be relocated to London, the source added.
“The bank will continue to have a global sales presence servicing our clients, across key market locations, which includes New York and Dubai,” it added in the statement.
ICBC Standard Bank said this week it is buying a 2,000-tonne gold vault from Barclays, becoming the only Chinese bank to operate a vault in London, a key trading and storage centre for precious metals.
It also recently became a clearing member of the London gold and silver over-the-counter business, the first bank to join the clearing system for more than a decade.
(Reporting by Clara Denina; Editing by Veronica Brown and Susan Thomas)
