Ibrahim out, Lim in

The head of Deutsche Bank's bond team in Malaysia, Mohamad Rashdan Ibrahim, left the bank last week and has been replaced by Peter Lim. Deutsche Bank spokesman Michael West would not comment on why Ibrahim has left the bank.

Rumours that his departure was due to regulatory investigation have been denied. "I can confirm that there is no investigation by Bank Negara [Malaysia]," said West in a written answer to an e-mail question.

It is also denied that there is a link between his departure and a heavy loss the bank has taken on a July bond deal for YTL Power Generation. It is understood that Deutsche underwrote about half of the RM1.3 billion ($342 million) 9, 10 and 11 year issue at five basis points below coupon and then watched as the bond price collapsed in the wake of the heavy spike in yields in fixed income markets throughout the world.

Without being able to get the bonds off its books, market sources suggest that Deutsche has lost some Rm20 million to RM30 million on the trade. "We cannot comment on internal operational or HR matters," says West, neither confirming nor denying the reported loss.

Peter Lim has been appointed as acting head of the institutional client group at Deutsche Bank in Kuala Lumpur and he will take over the running of the bond sales desk, a position effective as of August 21st (last Thursday). Until last week Lim was responsible for coverage of private banks in Singapore. He has been with Deutsche for six years.

Lim's appointment is understood to be temporary although West notes that he is "likely to be in place for some time."

Joining Lim on the bond sales desk is Yeoh Hong-Nam, who is also moving up from Singapore. He has been with the bank since 2001 in Singapore working on the foreign exchange trading desk and with the structuring team.