Market sources are puzzled by the logic of the move, which has seen the defection of four of five of TFS-Icap’s staff in Tokyo and another veteran broker in Hong Kong, pending the resolution of contractual issues. However, they point out that Asia is seen as a weak spot in GFI’s FX empire.
Wits point out that GFI appears to be evolving into a gerontocracy. Among those on the move in Tokyo are market veterans Ray Meenan and his even more experienced colleague and Tokyo legend Peter ‘Macca’ McDonald, as well as Jody Meenan, Takeshi Nomura and ‘Cali’ Kawazoe-san. James Moon has also left his position at TFS-Icap in Hong Kong. Market buzz is that all of them have signed relatively long contracts, which should see some nicely to retirement.
Apparently, TFS-Icap has been swift to plug the gaps and has already relocated brokers from other centres to ensure that its broking operations are unaffected.