Moscow top-earner gets cold shoulder
Nick Jordan, one of the highest-profile bankers in Russia, has lost out on a top job at his employer Nomura, putting his future at the Japanese bank in doubt and possibly heralding the end for Moscow’s best-paid, foreign rainmakers.
Jordan had expected to be appointed head of the combined Nomura-Lehman Brothers business in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States after the bank released an internal memo a month ago announcing his appointment. However, the management at Nomura had a rethink and Jordan has lost out to Maxim Seltzer, according to sources familiar with the situation.
US banker Jordan was hired two years ago by Lehman from Deutsche Bank for a guaranteed $7m a year to lead a second push into Russia. He had spent a decade at Deutsche Bank working on deals involving energy company Gazprom and other companies linked to the Kremlin.
Most of the team Jordan recruited during his two-year tenure have either left or been made redundant, according to sources familiar with the situation. These exits include head of capital markets Peter Ghavami, who joined Standard Bank this year.
Jordan declined to comment. Nomura declined to comment on Jordan or Seltzer.
Another high-profile banker to exit his role in Russia is Bob Foresman, deputy chairman of Renaissance Capital. Foresman is returning to the US with his family and will commute to Moscow for 12 working days a month. Rencap hired Foresman from Dresdner Kleinwort in July 2006, after outbidding the German bank, according to sources at Dresdner Kleinwort.
Foresman had previously advised oil giant Rosneft on its $10.6bn initial public offering.
Rencap has been forced to cut its roster of senior bankers, including head of private equity Richard Olphert and group head of finance Greg Dinges.
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