Nomura hires new Asia head of debt capital markets from Singapore’s Grab

Nomura has hired Guy Smith as head of debt capital markets for Asia ex-Japan from Grab, a Singapore-based ride-hailing and technology company, according to an internal memo seen by the Financial Times.

Mr Smith was head of strategic and corporate finance at Grab, and now a rare example of financial talent moving from a technology company to a bank. In recent years banks have routinely lost talent to rapidly growing tech groups.

Before joining Grab, Mr Smith worked for 20 years at Barclays holding roles including co-head of Asia Pacific debt origination. He will be based in Hong Kong and will also lead Nomura’s acquisition and leveraged finance business in Asia outside of Japan.

In December Citi said it had hired Zoher Karu, who led eBay’s data operations since 2013. Mr Karu was hired to head up data and analytics for Citi’s retail operations in Asia