* One of the more interesting characters in European debt origination has moved into a relationship management role. After two years, David Soanes is no longer head of debt capital markets at UBS, having moved to become head of the financial institutions group in the UBS investment banking division for EMEA. Soanes’ work has been a crucial factor in the rise of the Swiss bank’s DCM franchise for financial institutions. The new head of European DCM is UBS stalwart Patrick O’Brien, who is returning from Asia where he held a similar role. Suneel Kamlani remains global head of DCM at the bank.
* Elsewhere in the FIG world, Shazia Azim, who covered financial institutions for the UK and northern Europe at Goldman Sachs, has left to join Royal Bank of Scotland. She has moved into a FIG structuring role.
* In the high-grade debt world, the departure of Nick Dent from Credit Suisse to join Merrill Lynch surprised people at his old firm. Dent, a 10-year veteran at Credit Suisse, will now run SSA syndicate at Merrill. Merrill has been building out its SSA business for the past year and the move will allow Stuart McGregor, the former SSA syndicate official who now runs frequent borrower origination, to concentrate on coverage.