Report: Ex-Dillion Read Execs Forming New Firm

(Reuters) – John Costas and Michael Hutchins, who once ran UBS AG’s (UBS.N) now defunct hedge fund Dillon Read Capital Management LLC, are reuniting to start a financial-services firm, a report by Bloomberg news agency said.

Costas, Hutchins and Matthew Johnson, who was also a trader at Dillon Read, plan to open a boutique firm including a broker-dealer that will also make bets with its own capital, the report said, citing three people familiar with the plans who declined to be identified.

The preliminary name for the firm, which may be changed, is VinsonForbes, two of the people told the agency.

Costas and Hutchins could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

UBS shut down Dillon Read in May 2007 and said it accounted for $3 billion of the $19 billion in losses the bank reported that year, according to the agency. (Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore, editing by Will Waterman)