Around 10 UBS executives in Australia resign: sources

By Paulina Duran

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Around 10 UBS Australia staff, including top banking analyst Jonathan Mott and mining analyst Glyn Lawcock who had been at the Swiss investment bank for about two decades each, have resigned, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Both Mott and Lawcock have been hired by Barrenjoey Capital Partners, a startup partly owned by Barclays Plc and Magellan Financial Group, according to the Australia Financial Review, which first reported the moves.

Mott, who has worked as a banking analyst for UBS since 2002, according to his LinkedIn website, did not return Reuters messages seeking a comment. Lawcock, one of the only three mining analysts rated 5 out of 5 stars on Refinitiv Eikon, declined to comment.

Representatives for Barrenjoey and UBS in the Asia Pacific did not immediately return a request for comment. The sources declined to comment due to the sensitive nature of the situation.

The staff left on Monday after they received payment of deferred cash bonuses that had been made last week, one of the sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

Most of the departures were in the research department and they will join Barrenjoey, the person said.

An employee in the equities business also resigned.

UBS, which has about 650 staff in Australia and New Zealand, including nearly 90 in equities excluding research, and about 130 in corporate finance, will seek to rehire or fill the positions internally, the second source said.

Alongside Macquarie and Goldman Sachs, UBS is one of the largest investment banking operations in Australia. The Swiss bank topped the Australian equity and debt capital markets ranking tables for 2020 and ranked No. 2 in the local target M&A league table, behind Goldman Sachs, according to Refinitiv.

Nick Hughes, co-head of UBS in Australia and New Zealand, said the head office was supportive of the expected local efforts to rebuild the team.

"UBS globally is fully committed to the Australian business and to ensuring that we have the best talent," Hughes said, adding that the re-hiring process will take time.

"We will go through a period of renewal in the areas where we need to (...), will make the necessary investments and look at internal candidates as part of that process given the strength of the talent pool that we have."

With funding from both Barclays and Magellan, Barrenjoey was formed last year by several former UBS staff including Matt Hanning, former UBS Asia Pacific investment banking operations head and Guy Fowler, who previously led corporate finance and equity capital markets in Australia.

Its establishment has shaken up the already competitive local investment banking scene, as it has poached several high-profile staff from its rivals, including JPMorgan and UBS.

(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)