The alumni grapevine, at least in London, is buzzing with talk of what sounds like an outbreak of civil war at the bank – although things are apparently much calmer in New York. When it was confirmed that Rob Lichten was leaving his role as JPM’s global head of FX sales and trading on June 11, one of my better-informed readers posted the following comment: “The JPM reverse takeover continues. Standard operating procedure from here will be a JPM pogrom with the Puthites being ritually slaughtered. Have to figure that with Lichten gone, Brian Tomeo will be feeling a hand on his collar before too long.”
It seems that Tomeo, JPM’s EMEA head of sales, has now had his collar grabbed. JPM says that he hasn’t resigned. According to an internal organisational announcement, “EMEA FX corporate and institutional marketing will also be aligned to the EMEA cross-asset country coverage model, under Tony Best, head of derivatives sales and marketing across products and CEO of our global hedge funds business.”
The memo adds: “Brian Tomeo will work closely with Marc Badrichani and Andrea Vella to transition his current responsibilities over the coming weeks. The management is working closely with Brian to pursue other opportunities within the bank.”