Citigroup poaches two more from Hoare Govett

ABN Amro's UK broking division suffered another blow yesterday when two more bankers left to join Citigroup, which poached five executives last week.

ABN Amro's UK broking division suffered another blow yesterday when two more bankers left to join Citigroup, which poached five executives last week.

The Dutch bank's Hoare Govett business lost its chief executive, Nigel Mills, and four of his team - Andrew Chapman, Tom Reid, Andrew Thompson and Chris Zeal - to Citigroup last Friday. The world's largest banking group appointed Mr Mills as chairman of its UK corporate broking business while the other four joined as managing directors, in a group headed by David James.

Yesterday it emerged that Charles Lytle and Alex Carter would join the exodus after being recruited by Citigroup as directors.

The corporate broking world has been in upheaval for some time as the big US investment banks push into the UK broking arena. In April last year, Morgan Stanley snatched a team from Merrill Lynch and set up its own broking operation. In November, JP Morgan Chase tied up with Cazenove, Britain's biggest corporate broker with a list of 40 blue-chip companies.

The five senior executives had been looking to leave ABN Amro since Christmas and approached a number of banks, including Lehman Brothers, sources said.

It is understood that Citigroup has made job offers to other bankers at Hoare Govett, with numbers ranging from the high teens to more than 50.

A spokesman for ABN Amro said: "Citigroup made offers to more than 50 people, but only two have left. They attempted to poach the entire staff ... We believe the staff recognise the value of Hoare Govett's approach." Hoare Govett's chairman, Peter Meinertzhagen, has come out of semi-retirement to take on the day-to-day responsibility.