Financial NewsJason Corcoran in Moscow28 October 2008 Russian state bank VTB is defying the global downturn and dismal domestic markets by opening new sales and representative offices for its investment banking arm in New York and Dubai.Yulia Chupina, the VTB board member responsible for the expansion of its investment banking subsidiary, said the bank would open offices shortly in the US and Dubai.She said: "We are being cost conscious by freezing hiring and development in some areas while continuing to develop in other areas."VTB has already established three investment banking hubs in Moscow, London, and Singapore. It has dominated this year's hiring war in Russia by recruiting bankers from Deutsche Bank and key figures from a number of banks in Moscow.In response to the crisis, the bank said it was considering cutting costs by between 15% and ...

Financial NewsJason Corcoran in Moscow09 June 2008 Russian state-controlled bank VTB has created a dedicated unit of 20 bankers to act as a conduit for sovereign wealth funds looking to tap the global capital markets.Ivan Ivanchenko, who has joined VTB from Deutsche Bank’s global markets team, is in charge of building the operation and developing links to sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia.The operation is expected to be involved in managing a large amount of Russia’s $32.6bn (€21bn) National Prosperity Fund, which is scheduled to begin investing in foreign stocks and corporate bonds from October.Ivanchenko said: “The sovereign funds and their counterparties are considering big allocations to Russian corporations. So far, we have 20 staff involved from sales and trading, research and global markets but it is a floating number and in the set-up stage.”...

Financial NewsJason Corcoran in Moscow09 June 2008 Russian state-controlled bank VTB has created a dedicated unit of 20 bankers to act as a conduit for sovereign wealth funds looking to tap the global capital markets.Ivan Ivanchenko, who has joined VTB from Deutsche Bank’s global markets team, is in charge of building the operation and developing links to sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia.The operation is expected to be involved in managing a large amount of Russia’s $32.6bn (€21bn) National Prosperity Fund, which is scheduled to begin investing in foreign stocks and corporate bonds from October.Ivanchenko said: “The sovereign funds and their counterparties are considering big allocations to Russian corporations. So far, we have 20 staff involved from sales and trading, research and global markets but it is a floating number and in the set-up stage.”...