LONDON (Reuters) - Citigroup has hired a top European oil banker from UBS for a senior job in Houston, Texas, spokespeople for the two banks said, in its latest raid on the Swiss bank's energy team.
Mark Hobbs will join the U.S. bank as global head of Downstream, responsible for the bank's work with clients in parts of the oil sector that deal with refining, and selling and distribution of natural gas and crude oil-derived products.
Hobbs had previously been based in Houston for UBS, but came over to Europe in 2009 to run the regional team. He was joined as co-head of oil and gas for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) last year by Philip Wolfe, who came from HSBC
Citi swooped on UBS's energy team last year, hiring a series of big-hitters in Houston.
These include Stephen Trauber, who became head of global energy investment banking, and who had previously worked closely with Hobbs.
The Swiss bank made a step toward rebuilding its own energy franchise last week, hiring former Morgan Stanley banker Thomas Langford as global head of energy investment banking.
Energy and power is one of the highest profile and lucrative sectors for merger and acquisitions (M&A). It has been the busiest so far this year, well ahead of other areas such as financials and telecommunications with $190 billion worth of deals announced, Thomson Reuters data show.
(Reporting by Sarah White, Editing by Douwe Miedema and Elaine Hardcastle)
