Morgan Stanley drafts former Barclay’s banker Tim Lindley

MORGAN Stanley has drafted in Tim Lindley, the former head of investment banking at Barclay’s Australian arm, to lead its fixed income and debt capital markets operations.

Lindley left the UK-based bank last year after a wave of departures from its upper echelons.

Cynthia Whelan, its former country head, resigned to take up a posting with telecommunications giant, Telstra, while Daniel Janes, a previous co-head of the investment bank division, exited in favour of a new role at Credit Suisse.

Lindley, whose new position as head of debt capital markets (DCM) at Morgan Stanley started today, has over 19 years’ experience in investment banking. He notched up seven years at Barclays, where he drove the development of their debt and derivatives business in Australia and New Zealand, before assuming the the top job at at its investment banking division.

The appointment follows a string of high-profile changes in the financial services sector, with JPMorgan’s Jon Gidney jumping ship to the boutique advisory house, Greenhill Australia, while former Citi heavy-hitter, Simon Ranson, has staged a return, taking up the vice-chairmanship at JPMorgan.

Large-scale closures in the industry have been matched by prominent new arrivals. Malaysia’s CIMB closed its doors last month but its announcement coincided with the unveiling of Luminis Partners, a boutique advisory house set up by former Greenhill executives, Ron Malek, Simon Mordant and Jamie Garis.

Earlier today, the new outfit confirmed Peter Brownie, Morgan Stanley’s former private equity specialist, had also signed up, bringing the firm’s number of partners to four. That news came in the wake of revelations that former CIMB banker Michael Crowley has joined Luminis as a senior adviser.

Given the predicted surge in merger and acquisition volumes, the horse-trading in high-profile investment bankers is unlikely to diminish.

Morgan Stanley’s latest recruit started his career at UBS, where he worked for close to 9 years in capital markets and derivative origination in Australia, Asia and Europe.

Lindley, who has a masters degree in economics and finance, then skipped over to Deutsche Bank Australia for three years after landing a director’s role in debt origination and Australian dollar syndicate.