NatWest Group Plc has chopped the ranks of its foreign-exchange trading and sales team in Singapore, according to people familiar with the matter.
More than 10 NatWest Markets traders and salespeople in the lender’s Singapore office covering the currencies market were let go this week, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing personnel matters. The cuts, taking place just before the Lunar New Year holidays across Asia, included Rajiv Dhown, head of sales for Asia Pacific, Richard Summerbell, an options trader, and Galvin Chia, an emerging-market strategist, the people said.
“Yesterday we announced some changes to our front office sales and trading teams in Singapore, which unfortunately impacts a number of roles and colleagues,” a NatWest Markets spokesperson wrote in an e-mail Thursday. The firm remains committed to the Asia-Pacific region and serving its customers well and will be supporting the teams involved through these changes, the spokesperson added. She didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on those who had left the firm.
Chia declined to comment via a message sent to his LinkedIn account. Dhown and Summerbell didn’t respond to requests for comments via LinkedIn.
The UK lender’s move to slash its FX trading team is the latest example of global banks cutting down on their currency trading operations as revenue remains under pressure. NatWest Markets offers debt financing, risk management and trading solutions to customers worldwide. In Asia, it has offices in Singapore and Tokyo, according to its website.
