Merill Lynch hires for European derivatives sales

Merrill Lynch has made two new hires for its derivatives sales force in Europe. Robert Machin joins as a director of interest rate derivatives, and Konstantin Krebs joins as a senior vice-president, marketing credit derivatives, interest rate derivatives and structured solutions to German insurance companies. Based in Merrill’s London office, both start the newly created roles in mid April.

Machin joins from Gen Re Securities, where he marketed interest rate derivatives, and previous to that worked at Yamaichi Europe as a financial engineer, focusing on rate derivatives. Warren Buffett, chairman of investment holding company Berkshire Hathaway, last month put an end to two years of wrangling over Gen Re Securities by ordering the firm to unwind its positions and shut down. In his new role, Machin reports to Reuben Barratt, head of flow interest rate derivatives marketing.

Krebs, meanwhile, joins from Credit Suisse First Boston, where he held a similar role, covering Germany and Austria. At Merrill he will report to Stefan Guetter and KlausSwoboda, co-heads of German insurance company coverage.

A Merrill Lynch spokesman told RiskNews that additional hires in interest rates and credit derivatives are likely in the next few months.