Morgan Stanley Promotes David Flowerdew in Macro Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley has replaced a top executive at one of its fixed-income trading units.

Mitchell Nadel, head of so-called macro trading for North America, is leaving the New York-based firm, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. He will be replaced by David Flowerdew, currently the head of U.S. rates, according to people familiar with the matter.

Nadel was one of the top executives at Morgan Stanley’s macro business, which deals in products tied to interest rates and currencies. The unit has been hit by some cuts as the bank eliminates about 1,500 jobs globally and is the subject of an internal probe into whether traders mismarked derivative positions tied to the Turkish lira that may have lost more than $100 million, Bloomberg has reported.

Although Nadel was among the macro division’s most senior officials, he had a minimal role in the day-to-day operations of the derivatives business that executed the trades in question, the people said. While the reasons for Nadel’s departure are unclear, he isn’t suspected of being involved in the alleged mismarking of trades or concealment of losses, the people said.

“Throughout his career, Mitch has promoted the firm’s values and culture,” Jakob Horder, global head of the macro business, said in the memo. Mark Lake, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley, confirmed the contents of the memo and declined to comment further.

Nadel, who joined Morgan Stanley in Japan almost a decade ago, declined to comment. Flowerdew didn’t respond to requests for comment.

--With assistance from Sridhar Natarajan and Stefania Spezzati.

To contact the reporter on this story: Donal Griffin in London at dgriffin10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, ;Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.