Reuters: Keval Shah Leaves Citi for Lloyds

(IFR) – Keval Shah has resigned from Citigroup as co-head of FIG syndicate, based in London, to join UK lender Lloyds Bank to take up the role of head of financial and corporate syndicate, Lloyds said on Friday.

Tim Michael, the other co-head of FIG syndicate at Citi, will take on Shah’s duties and will be responsible for selling covered and senior bonds as well as bank capital.

It is unclear whether or not Citi will fill the position with a new hire.

At Lloyds, Shah will report to Andrew Ryan, head of bond syndicate in the bank’s wholesale banking & markets division. Shah may begin his new role in December, although that may change.

According to market sources, Shah was disappointed with the lack of progress in his career at Citi and the move did not come as a complete surprise.

Shah has worked at Citi for over 14 years, having graduated from the University of Oxford in 1999, where he studied mathematics, according to his LinkedIn profile page.

Lloyds has been seeking to expand its presence in the FIG sector in euro and sterling markets this year, having struggled to win a large portion of covered, senior and subordinated mandates.

The UK lender is often edged out by Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and RBS.

This is the second hire Lloyds has made to its FIG team in recent months. Earlier this year, Lloyds hired former UBS executive Eva Porz as a bond structurer, as it sought to jump into the booming hybrid and bank capital market.

Citi declined to comment on Shah’s move. Shah also declined to comment.