Deutsche Bank hires UBS banker, National Bankshares taps new head

October 18, 2024 2:43 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: Deutsche Bank hired UBS' Aly Alibhai to head North American mergers and acquisitions; National Bankshares promoted Lara Ramsey to president; Apple Pay users in the U.S. and U.K. now have a pay later option through Klarna; and more.

Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank hires UBS’ Aly Alibhai to lead North American M&A

Deutsche Bank has hired UBS media and entertainment banker Aly Alibhai as head of North American mergers and acquisitions, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Alibhai is set to join the German lender after a period of leave and will be based in New York, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Representatives for UBS and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Alibhai joined UBS through its purchase of Credit Suisse. He had previously worked at Citigroup, where his LinkedIn profile shows he was a managing director within the bank's M&A arm.

Deutsche Bank is one of the few lenders that has chosen to take advantage of a slower market for deals to hire talent, picking up marquee bankers from peers such as Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Lazard. —Dinesh Nair, Liana Baker and Gillian Tan, Bloomberg News

National Bankshares taps Lara Ramsey as president

National Bankshares has promoted Chief Operating Officer Lara Ramsey to president as it splits its leadership roles.

Ramsey, who joined the $1.8 billion-asset company in 1996, will also be president of the National Bank of Blacksburg. She will assume the role on Jan. 1.

Current President and Chief Executive F. Brad Denardo will continue as chairman and CEO.

Ramsey has held many roles at National Bankshares, including leading the company's investment, human resources, marketing, training, corporate administration and strategic initiative functions. –Mary de Wet

Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

Klarna integrates at checkout with Apple Pay in U.S. and U.K.

Consumers in the U.S. and U.K. using Apple Pay for online and in-application purchases are now being presented with the option to use Klarna to pay later, the Swedish fintech said Thursday. The additional payment option will appear under "Other Cards & Pay Later Options" in Apple Pay's interface for iPhones and iPads on iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 or later.

Klarna also has another partnership with Apple that went live on Oct. 1 and places a service called Apple from Klarna on the tech company's storefront and on Klarna's app, allowing customers to use Klarna to buy Apple products.

Klarna said it plans on launching the service in Canada next month. –Joey Pizzolato

B1BANK promotes Jerry Vascocu to president

B1BANK, a unit of Business First Bancshares, is separating the role of president from its chairman and chief executive officer jobs.

The $6.7 billion-asset bank promoted chief administrative officer N. Jerome "Jerry" Vascocu Jr. to president. Vascocu will report to Chairman and CEO Jude Melville, who previously held the president job as well.

Before joining the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, bank in 2022, Vascocu led the development and implementation of client-focused strategies for commercial banking teams across the Southeast at First Horizon Bank. —Mary de Wet

Georgia credit union mourns loss of former president and CEO

Robins Financial Credit Union announced the passing of its former president and CEO, John S. Ruffin Sr., on Tuesday.

Ruffin's impact on the credit union industry was significant, with over 26 years of service to the National Credit Union Administration, including 12 years as the regional director of Atlanta and Austin.

Following his distinguished career with the NCUA, Ruffin served as executive vice president of Robins Financial CU from 1997 to 2003 before being named president and CEO in 2004. He retired in 2008.

"Mr. Ruffin's legacy of leadership, kindness, and commitment to service will be remembered fondly by all of us," said Christina O'Brien, president and CEO of Robins Financial Credit Union.

Chartered in 1954 by a group of 13 Robins Air Force Base civilian and military personnel, the Robins, Georgia, financial institution now serves more than 273,000 members across the state of Georgia and beyond. —Traci Parks

Truist to launch new payment solution in November

Truist Financial is rolling out a new wholesale payments solution for its commercial and corporate clients in an aim to speed up payment processing, automate billing and increase risk controls.

The Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment platform will go live Nov. 1 and is designed for a "wide range of organizations," including utility companies, financial services providers, health care organizations and municipalities, according to Truist.

The platform will allow clients to automate invoicing and payment reconciliation, track payments in real time, monitor customer payment history and generate detailed reports. Consumers looking to pay bills will be able to do so through various avenues including online, mobile, text, digital assistant and Intelligent Voice Response. —Joey Pizzolato

BNP said to lay off six from emerging markets credit team

BNP Paribas laid off at least six people from its emerging markets credit team just two years after the bank expanded its presence in the space, according to people familiar with the matter. Those cut include Bo Bazylevsky, who joined in 2022 as a New York-based managing director and senior trader focused on Latin America debt, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information hasn't been made public. Trang Nguyen, the London-based global head of emerging market sovereign and corporate credit strategy, was also laid off.

The London- and New York-based heads of emerging market credit sales Kalpesh Suchdev and Mike Robinson, respectively, were also let go, as were trader Felipe Restrepo and EM Sales Director David Hurtares.

Representatives for BNP declined to comment. Bazylevsky, Nguyen, Suchdev, Robinson, Restrepo and Hurtares all declined to comment. —Maria Elena Vizcaino, Bloomberg News

JPMorgan hires Deutsche Bank’s Trey Hanlan for health care deals

JPMorgan Chase has hired health care banker Trey Hanlan as a managing director on the mid-cap investment banking team, according to people familiar with the matter.

The hire is part of a push by the biggest U.S. bank to expand its coverage of smaller companies.

Hanlan, who has worked at Deutsche Bank since 2018, will be based in New York and report to John Richert, head of JPMorgan's mid-cap investment banking effort, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details aren't public.

Hanlan will cover health care services companies with a focus on value-based care and will work closely with the bank's health care services investment banking team on situations involving larger companies.

JPMorgan earlier this year brought together its commercial and investment banking segments, appointing Jennifer Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh to lead the combined group, which covers middle-market companies up to large, blue-chip firms. —Michelle F. Davis, Bloomberg News