J.P. Morgan's ex-head of gilt trading came out of retirement and joined Citi

That didn't last long. In June 2016, Martin Cross, a veteran gilt trader at J.P. Morgan, retired. Thirteen months later, he's back.

Cross is understood to have joined Citi. The bank confirmed his arrival. His role there isn't clear, but given his extremely good pedigree and extremely weighty experience, it's likely that he's something pretty senior. - Head of gilt trading maybe?

This was Cross's last role at J.P. Morgan, where he was head of gilts between 2012 and 2016. Before that he was head of gilts at BNP Paribas (for a mere six months), head of sterling rates trading at Nomura for nearly three years, head of sterling rates trading at Lehman for 5.5 years and head of sterling trading at Credit Suisse for five years.

Cross, basically, has form.

His return suggests that retirement isn't all that. It also reflects the resurgent demand for rates traders as macroeconomic conditions across Europe diverge and central banks make differing noises on QE. Cross isn't the only recent hire in the space. Scott Marsh, an executive director at Morgan Stanley and former director in rates trading at Deutsche Bank, has also joined Nomura. The Japanese bank confirmed his arrival.

Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com

Photo credit: Citi London by Håkan Dahlström is licensed under CC BY 2.0.