Japanese investment bank Nomura has hired a former senior trader at French lender BNP Paribas to head electronic foreign Exchange sales for Asia. Ashvin Parkash is joining Nomura as its head of e-FX and distribution sales for Asia where he will focus on enhancing its product offering and expanding the client franchise, according to a report by FX Week.
Parkash has been a mainstay in the FX industry for the past ten years, working at multiple lenders, including BNP and Citi, based entirely out of Asia-Pacific. He initially made his foray into the financial services space in 2008 with Citi.
He quit BNP Paribas after a more than 5-year tenure, having joined the bank in 2013, his LinkedIn profile shows.
BNP Paribas has seen a raft of departures from its FX team to Nomura over the past few months. This included brining in Asa Atwell, who was part of the same team, as its new Head of FX and Emerging Markets. Before joining Nomura, Atwell spent the bulk of his career with BNP Paribas in a mix of options and FX trading roles.
Nomura's latest quarterly report highlighted a notable drop in revenues and client base for its rates and emerging markets businesses, which included currencies.
As finance Magnates reported, the Japanese dealer saw net revenues of ¥272 billion ($2.5 billion) in the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year. This was a 25 percent decrease on last year when the firm finished its first quarter of the year with ¥361 billion ($3.26 billion) in net revenue. The report said that the bank had made the tactical decision to expand its emerging markets business.
At the beginning of July, Nomura let around fifty employees go from its London office. This included several senior traders, most notably the firm’s former Global Head of FX Trading, Nigel Khakoo.
