A growing market and changing political landscape could spur more demand for emissions traders, bankers and analysts. The market for emissions trading this year could end up more than doubling to $70 billion from 2006's $30 billion level, further increasing demand for traders who buy and sell emissions credits, bankers who source and negotiate deals for emission-reduction project, and policy analysts who keep tabs on national and international regulations covering emissions... Read more

As the energy markets heat up, specialized risk professionals are in hot demand. The boom in energy demand is creating a related need for energy risk professionals and traders around the world. Additionally, firms are expanding in the area, with many more investment banks and hedge funds moving into energy supply and trading. Over half of the firms surveyed recently by Risk Talent Associates, a New York-based executive search firm, expect... Read more

Nomura Securities is shutting down its futures trading operation in Chicago, two months after exiting the residential mortgage-backed securities business and disbanding a structured finance research group in New York. The latest cutbacks, reported in Wednesday's Financial Times, follow large losses from mortgage bond trading stemming from exposure to the sub-prime mortgage market. The moves are part of a broader reorganization in which the Japanese brokerage firm is focusing its U.S.... Read more

As trading in emissions credits increases, so do the opportunities for those with the right financial background and skills. Global banks, energy companies and a handful of niche investment funds are actively hiring traders to buy and sell emissions credits, bankers to source and negotiate deals for emission-reduction projects and related credits, and policy analysts to keep tabs on national and international regulations on emissions and climate change. They're also hiring... Read more

Houston-based Arrowhead Financial Services Ltd. plans to hire analysts and other staff with energy backgrounds for a newly spun-off investment banking and private equity division. The unit, now called Arrowhead Energy Partners LLC, deals with companies involved in domestic and international energy exploration, production, oil field service and midstream activities. It's looking to hire people with engineering, geology and lease-acquisition backgrounds over the next three quarters, according to an article in... Read more

Houston has always been one of the centers of the energy universe. Increasingly, it's becoming a financial powerhouse, too. That's good news for job seekers. The Greater Houston Partnership forecasts job growth of 2.6 percent this year. Although that's lower than last year's growth, it's still stronger than the national average of about one percent. Many Wall Street firms and foreign banks, who already have a strong presence in the city,... Read more

As its former leaders prepare to serve prison terms and its name continues as a punchline for late-night comedians, veterans of Enron Corp. are having no trouble landing new positions. Or, as the Web site Dealbreaker.com puts it: "They're back from the dead. There are lots of them. And they are everywhere." Within trading and commodities circles, time spent with Enron is often regarded as a high-quality credential, many say. "In the... Read more

Citigroup plans to increase its commodities staff by 40 percent next year to double revenues from the business, which it admitted it had failed to develop. Thomas Maheras, head of the bank’s global capital markets division, said in a conference call last month outlining the U.S. bank’s growth plans to investors: “We have not attained a top-tier position in the fastest growing products partly due to lack of investments and we... Read more

The New York Mercantile Exchange wants to cut up to a quarter of its work force as it slashes expenses ahead of a much-anticipated initial public offering. The exchange, which has nearly 550 full-time employees, spent $37.5 million on salaries and benefits during the first half of 2006, a 25 percent increase from the same period in 2005, reports the New York Post. The newspaper says Nymex told employees last week... Read more

Investment banks, retail banks and other financial companies are moving toward more activity in the Middle East. They're seeking staff who can help them get a share of the billions of dollars of oil money that are pumping up the region's economies and developing a sophisticated customer base. All of this comes despite fighting in Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, continued violence in Iraq and other uncertainties. BusinessWeek says investment... Read more

Credit Agricole and Societe Generale may merge their U.S.-based futures businesses, Bloomberg reports. If the banks form a joint venture, it would be the third-largest futures brokerage when measured by customer funds, compared to their sixth- and eighth-place rankings today. Credit Agricole's Calyon Financial and Societe Generale's Fimat USA both trade interest-rate, metals and energy commodity futures and options. They operate in New York, London and Chicago, the news service said.... Read more

French investment bank BNP Paribas is preparing for a wave of expansion in the UK, Germany and Spain. Les Echos reports that the bank is planning to hire 600 front-office staff in London this year, an increase of about 10%, and another 600 next year. BNP Paribas already has a significant presence in London and recently announced plans to expand into a new building in the City to accommodate its growing workforce. As... Read more

Oil production companies like Shell, Total, and BP, are set to hire increasing quantities of junior traders to replace staff who have defected to banks. One headhunter who works in the area, and declined to be named, says physical trading companies have suffered heavily from staff defections this year as investment banks have sought to build their commodities teams. Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse are among the banks building new commodities teams.... Read more

Commerzbank's London commodities team is looking to expand in size, despite the Luxembourg branch of the German bank losing a group of commodities traders to rival Standard Chartered. David Burns, head of global commodity markets at Commerzbank, told Bloomberg that the bank had hired another trader "recently" and that another addition is "imminent". There are currently seven staff on the London commodities desk, which trades energy metals and agricultural products out... Read more

The London Metal Exchange is opening for electronic trading six hours earlier from today in response to both the growing importance from Asian business and the rising competition between commodity exchanges. The London Metals Exchange announced that the new trading times will be from 0100hrs London time to 1900hrs. Vicky Meadows-Smith of Commodities Appointments deals directly with hiring for the London Metal Exchange, and says the London Metal Exchange is extending... Read more

Citigroup is planning to almost double the size of its global commodities trading team and increase its range of products by the end of the year as competition between banks involved in the sector intensifies. The US bank is planning to increase the number of traders handling oil, metals and other commodities from 85 to 150 by the end of this year according to John Casaudoumecq, global head of commodities at... Read more

Headhunters report rumblings of discontent at Barclays Capital, and the possibility of job losses at the bank later this year. “There are some unhappy people at Barclays,” says one derivatives-focused recruiter. “Recent hires have been paid top dollar, and the incumbents are increasingly hacked off.” Under the so-called ‘Alpha Plan’ of chief executive Bob Diamond, Barclays Capital has added 3,200 staff over the past two years, and continues to hire aggressively for... Read more

BNP Paribas has transferred a top banker from New York to London to head up and expand its global commodity derivatives business. SparkSpread, the online energy news service, reports that Amine Belhadj, head of equities and derivatives for the Americas at BNP Paribas in New York, is relocating to London shortly to lead its commodities effort. Jean-Marc Bonnefous, the incumbent head, is taking on a new role within the commodities group... Read more