Bank of America Merrill Lynch hired Nomura's former deputy global head of investment banking, Christian Meissner, to head its investment banking business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while Nomura named Tarun Jotwani chief executive for EMEA and appointed William Vereker and Hiroyuki Suzuki co-heads of global investment banking, the banks said in separate releases Tuesday.
Meissner, who will based in London, will report to Michael Rubinoff and Purna Saggurti, co-heads of global investment banking at B of A Merrill. He will join in July and take a seat on the global corporate and investment banking operating committee.
"One of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's highest priorities and greatest growth opportunities is the international expansion of our corporate and investment banking business," Tom Montag, president of global banking and markets, said in the release. "An appointment of Christian’s calibre reaffirms our commitment to growing our investment banking business in EMEA."
At Nomura, Jotwani will report to Jesse Bhattal, president and chief operating officer of the wholesale division. He will continue in his role as head of global fixed income. The appointment will be effective May 1.
“Appointing a leader with the track record, unrivaled market expertise and integrity of an operator like Tarun Jotwani is a profound statement of our commitment to the EMEA region, along with our continued dedication to the growth and globalization of our fixed-income franchise,” Bhattal said in the release. “Tarun has a strong record of building profitable businesses, and I am confident in his ability to build on our already strong platform in EMEA.”
“William Vereker and Hiroyuki Suzuki’s advancements are in recognition of their outstanding achievements and contributions in building Nomura’s investment banking platform,” said Bhattal. “Both have outstanding client relationships, have deep banking knowledge and are the right people to drive the business to the next stage.”
Meissner has been deputy global head of investment banking at Nomura since the firm acquired some of Lehman Brothers' businesses in October 2008.
Prior to joining Nomura, Meissner spent five years at Lehman Brothers, serving most recently as co-CEO for Europe and the Middle East. Before going to Lehman, he spent 10 years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a partner and co-head of European equity capital markets at the time of his departure.
Prior to joining Nomura in December 2008, Jotwani was head of capital markets for the Asia-Pacific region at Lehman Brothers and chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers India. Prior to moving to India in 2007, he was co-head of the fixed-income division in Europe and a member of the European executive committee.
