Investment company Fortress Investment Group LLC has hired the former global head of foreign exchange at Citigroup Inc as its co-president of Liquid Markets operations and portfolio manager.
Jeffrey Feig, who worked with Citigroup for 25 years, headed the forex department for 10 years. His departure comes at a time when major banks all over the world have either suspended or dismissed foreign exchange dealers in the wake of probes by the respective national regulators over possible collusion to manipulate benchmark rates.
“Given his tenure in his role, this departure was well-anticipated, and part of the natural cycle of the business,†a spokeswoman at Citigroup spokeswoman told Reuters.
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It was unclear whether Feig’s departure is linked to any of those investigations. Citigroup refused comment on the matter. Feig’s exit also follows that of his previous boss, Anil Prasad, who left the bank in February. Prasad’s exit was also unrelated to the investigations.
The Euromoney magazine estimates that Citigroup handles 16 percent of the roughly $5.3 trillion per day that is transacted through the foreign exchange market. Spot FX volumes have declined steeply this year owing to the declining market volatility due to various factors such as the ongoing forex investigations and low interest rates.
As a portfolio manager, Feig will officially work as the co-chief investment officer of the Fortress Macro Fund.  He will contribute towards attaining Fortress’ goal of having diversified portfolio of hedge funds all concentrated around the Fortress Macro Fund. As of March, Fortress administered assets worth $62.5 billion. To register for a free 2-week subscription to ForexMinute Premium Plan, visit www.forexminute.com/newsletter.
To contact the reporter of this story; Yashu Gola at yashu@forexminute.com
