Tim Carrington has left Merrill Lynch, less than a year after it was announced that he had been recruited to the bank as its global head of trading from Dresdner Kleinwort.
His departure has naturally got the tongues wagging again about the state of the bank’s FX business. Rumours have circulated for months about a political battle going on over the revaluation of its options portfolio, and sources say that Carrington fell out spectacularly with David Gu, Merrill’s global head of rates and FX over the issue
Sources say that after making a killing in the market on ‘Freaky Friday’ in August, Merrill’s FX team was encouraged to ‘go for it’; as their profits started to erode, it was then told to cut back the bank’s risk. It is not clear whether Carrington was pushed or jumped; some sources are suggesting that he is now headed for the buy side, although he may have to complete a lengthy spell of gardening leave first.