Fater Belbachir, global head of equities at Citi, has not been poached by a rival
If you thought yesterday that Fater Belbachir, Citi's global head of equities, had left the bank, you were wrong.
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Yesterday, Belbachir was one of the most viewed profiles (MVPs) on the Bloomberg terminal and was off the desk in London, spurring speculation that he might have either left or be joining a rival.
Today, however, he is back in his seat. Citi isn't commenting, but it's understood that Belbachir is going nowhere. Nor has his role at Citi changed.
Some controversy has surrounded Belbachir this year after he was named in a discrimination case against Citi, filed by former equities managing director Ardith Lindsey, which claimed that he encouraged a sexist environment in Citi's equities trading business. Citi is strongly refuting all Lindsey's claims. Some of those mentioned in Lindsey's complaint, like Tim Gately, Citi's former head of US equities sales, have left the bank. Gately was not directly accused of wrongdoing.
A subsequent complaint from Christine O’Reilly, a broker at ICAP accused a Citi equities trader, Benjamin Waters, of harassing her. Waters has since left Citi of his own accord and on good terms and Belbachir was not cited in O'Reilly's complaint.
Belbachir joined Citi from Barclays in August 2020. He was at Barclays for less than three years but at JPMorgan for over 15 years before that.
Belbachir cut his teeth in equity derivatives trading, and equity derivatives traders are having a very good year riding equity market volatility. Citi's equities revenues rose 37% year-on-year in the second quarter and 21% in the first half, meaning that Belbachir is likely to be well paid for his efforts in 2024. This makes it highly unlikely that he would leave the bank ahead of bonuses, and if a rival wanted to poach him in Q4, it would likely need to pay handsomely.
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