DUBAI: VTB Capital named Nomura Holdings' Makram Abboud as its chief executive officer for the Middle East and Africa, it said on Monday, in a bid by the Russian investment bank to beef up its presence in the region. Abboud was most recently head of emerging markets sales and origination team at Nomura, VTB Capital said in a statement. He previously worked at Bank of America Corp. and UBS, the statement said. Abboud will also hold an additional role as the co-head of the international multi-product origination and distribution group for VTB Capital. VTB Capital, the investment banking arm of Russia's No. 2 lender VTB, is taking advantage of massive job cuts by its western European peers to recruit bankers as it seeks to expand its international staff, a top executive said in October. Nomura lost its highest ranking ex-Lehman executive Jasjit Bhattal last week after he resigned, in a blow to the Japanese bank's ambitions to join the elite ranks of global investment banks.
