RBS reels in Richards for debt role

John Richards has crossed from Barclays Capital to the Royal Bank of Scotland in its Tokyo offices. With immediate effect, Richards takes on the newly created role of head of debt markets strategy and economics for the Asia Pacific region. He will perform this role in the bankÆs fully-owned subsidiary, RBS Securities Japan.

For RBS, Richards will report locally to Lee Knight, chief executive officer of RBS Securities Japan and globally to Kit Juckes, head of debt markets research in London.

In his new post at RBS, Richards will be responsible for building regional strategy and economics teams. He will also draw on his experience in forecasting the direction of Japanese interest rates and the yield curve, identifying relative value in the yen fixed income markets, and in developing hedging and risk management strategies for RBSÆ client base.

At Barclays Capital, Richards was most recently head of research, Japan. Prior to joining this firm in 2001, he was a partner at a Japan-based hedge fund. His 25 years of financial experience also includes time at CSFB, where he managed hedge fund sales.