Frankfurt-based Dresdner Bank AGs investment banking arm, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, hired seven bankers for its debt securities business last week, its latest move to expand its debt capital markets capabilities in the United States.
Dresdner Kleinwort in New York has been expanding its debt capital markets division since last fall, focusing on distribution, trading, and bond syndication.
We are taking advantage of market conditions to grow the business in a disciplined, rational, and focused manner, said Henry Fajemirokun, co-head of global debt in North America.
Dresdner Kleinwort has been building its U.S. presence at the same time other investment banks have been cutting back in response to the depressed capital markets. As a result of these staffing cuts and bank consolidation, the firm has been able to select from a large pool of available talent, said spokesman Jon Hartzel.
In the past eight to nine months Dresdner Kleinwort has added more than 75 people to its global debt division, which it said now has well over 100 employees.
Dresdner Kleinwort will do more hiring in coming months, though just how much depends partly on how the market develops, Mr. Hartzel said.
It is not the only German banking company hiring on this side of the Atlantic.
Elsewhere last week Deutsche Bank, also headquartered in Frankfurt, hired Dan Campbell to be its global head of hybrid capital products and Nigel Cree to head North American new-issue syndicates in New York. Both are formerly of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Deutsche Bank also promoted several professionals after losing a number of debt capital markets bankers to Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays PLC.
Evangelos Kavoriadis, a bank analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said it is not unusual for the big German banking companies to look to expand as others trim their ranks in down markets.
They have been willing to take short-term economic pain to build the business, Mr. Kavoriadis said.
