ROME: Headhunters are trying to lure Italian bankers in London back to jobs at home, hoping to use Britain’s vote to leave the EU as leverage to fill a string of vacancies at investment banks in Europe’s fourth largest economy. American, British, French and Japanese investment banks are looking for a total of six dealmakers to head their businesses in Italy after a number of senior bankers jumped ship for top jobs at Italian corporates. Bank of America’s (BAC.N) chief executive in Italy Marco Morelli, Nomura’s (8604.T) top Italian banker Francesco Mele and Barclays’ (BARC.L) Italy head Alessandra Pasini have all ditched investment banking for executive corporate jobs.
Senior staff in Italy have also left Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and HSBC (HSBA.L) in recent months, sources told Reuters, while BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) is interviewing candidates to head the corporate division of its Italian subsidiary Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL). The banks declined to comment on their hiring plans. Since the start of the financial crisis, life in companies outside the financial sector has become increasingly attractive for senior bankers, whose jobs now involve dealing more with restructuring plans, cutting costs and compliance work.
“At a certain stage in your career, if you’re being offered a prestigious corporate role, it’s hard to refuse,” said Anna Marietta, a partner at executive search firm DHR International. Goldman Sachs rainmaker Simon Dingemans joined British drug firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) as chief financial officer (CFO) in 2011, Goldman’s Anthony Noto left the bank in 2014 to become Twitter’s (TWTR.N) CFO while Morgan Stanley’s (MS.N) Ruth Porat became CFO at Google’s holding firm Alphabet (GOOGL.O) in 2015.
