JPMorgan Hires Barclays’ Credit Trader Schaefer

(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. has hired Barclays Plc credit derivatives trader Benjamin Schaefer, according to people familiar with the matter.

Schaefer will join the U.S. bank in London before later relocating to New York, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing personnel moves. At Barclays, he also held roles on both sides of the Atlantic, including head of the high-grade credit-default swaps team, the people said.

A spokeswoman for Barclays and a JPMorgan spokesman declined to comment on the hire. Schaefer also declined to comment.

He joins following an eventful period for JPMorgan’s credit team. Earlier this year, the bank punished more than a dozen traders for using WhatsApp at work, firing one and cutting bonus payments for the rest. Edward Koo, who was known as one of the bank’s main traders of credit-default swaps tied to individual companies, was dismissed after JPMorgan concluded he broke company rules by creating a WhatsApp group and using it to discuss market chatter with colleagues.

Credit swap indexes have been particularly volatile in recent months as the measures taken to stem the coronavirus sent shockwaves through credit markets, causing a gauge of U.S. corporate credit risk to surge by the most since Lehman Brothers collapsed. The cost of credit insurance has declined in recent weeks but remains elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels.

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