Wachovia beefs up structured finance team

Wachovia Securities recently hired five ABS professionals to work out of its Charlotte headquarters as well as satellite offices in New York and London. Johnnie Watson, formerly of Merrill Lynch, was hired as a vice president in the Charlotte office. Phil Leftkowitz, formerly of CDC IXIS, Mike Gaffney, formerly of Credit Suisse First Boston, and Brian Farrell, formerly of Societe Generale were all hired as directors in the New York office. Rolf Friedrich, formerly of Bear Stearns, was hired as a director in Wachovia's London office. Of note, Leftkowitz had only been with CDC for two months, after having left a similar position at CIBC World Markets in a mass defection (see ASR 3/17/03).