American investment bank Jefferies has poached another series of investment bankers from Credit Suisse, a blow to the Swiss bank's leveraged loans franchise.
The Swiss bank has already taken Jefferies to court over four managing directors who walked this summer – unsuccessfully. Now, New York-based Jefferies has struck again, taking a chunk of Credit Suisse's leveraged loan team as well as another investment banker.
The bankers who have left Credit Suisse include Jonathan Moneypenny, a 20-year veteran of the Swiss bank who will co-lead global leveraged finance capital markets at Jefferies, with Jefferies' Brian Wolfe, according to «Reuters».
Jefferies has also hired Joseph Kieffer as U.S. head of leveraged capital markets, John Bown as head of loan sales, Brad Capadona as a managing director in loan trading, and Jeb Slowik as co-head of leveraged finance origination.
Setback for Credit Suisse
The move is clearly a blow for Credit Suisse, which has a long and storied past in leveraged lending – an area which the bank has opted to retain under a massive restructuring under CEO Tidjane Thiam. Credit Suisse ranked second for leveraged finance globally last year, according to Dealogic league tables.
Hardly surprising then to see Credit Suisse swing into damage control mode over the prominent departures, with a spokeswoman emphasizing the bank's deep bench of talent and overall commitment to leveraged lending.
Jefferies also said it is hiring gaming investment banker Dean Decker from Credit Suisse to become its co-head of real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking.
