Deutsche Bank’s former global head of agency lending, Tim Smollen, is understood to be taking on a leading role within Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's (MUFG) investor services division to build out its securities finance business, as part of a wider strategy to grow the Japanese banking group’s global presence.
Smollen left his position at Deutsche Bank this week but will not begin his role with MUFG until January.
For Deutsche Bank, Smollen was based in New York but it is currently unknown whether he will relocate for his new role or if it will be global or regional in scope.
It is believed Smollen will be joined at MUFG by fellow Deutsche Bank alumni Jay Schreyer and Anthony Toscano, who also left the German bank recently, among others.
At Deutsche Bank, Schreyer served as head of agency lending for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific, while Toscano was co-head of agency lending for North America.
The trio has maintained a professional partnership on-and-off for over a decade, having first joined forces to develop Dresdner Bank’s securities lending business in the early 2000s, before it was acquired by Commerzbank in 2009 for €9.8 billion.
They later joined forces again at Deutsche Bank in 2009 to develop its agency lending business following the financial crisis, where the bank suffered worst than most.
It is now understood that the team are being brought into the fold at MUFG to bring their experience to bear on its securities lending programme, which has been active for more than 20 years already.
Other recently departed members of Deutsche Bank’s global agency lending desk are also expected to re-appear at MUFG.
MUFG's securities lending hires are only the latest in a series of key senior appointments in a wide variety of market sectors in the past 12 months, which were all cited as being aimed at achieving the bank’s growth targets across all global regions.
MUFG boasts a global network of entities in more than 50 countries, which it aims to leverage to cement its position as a leader in multiple financial markets, including securities lending.
MUFG were unable to immediately offer a comment on the agency lending hires.
