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E*Trade Financial appointed its chairman, Donald Layton, as chief executive, raising speculation that the online brokerage wants to sell itself. R. Jarrett Lilien, the company's interim CEO, resumes his role as president and COO. Layton spent 29 years at JPMorgan, most recently as vice chairman. Earlier in his tenure, he was co- CEO of JPMorgan's investment bank. He is currently a senior advisor to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and a director on monoline Assured Guaranty's board.-ST_TD- "Having worked directly with the board of directors and the management team over the past few months, I am fully convinced that the E*Trade franchise has immense strength, perhaps best exemplified by the quick return of its customer volumes," Layton said in a statement. "I also believe that its current financial issues can be effectively managed despite the tough environment." Layton became E*Trade chairman in November, when the company received a $1.75 billion capital infusion from Citadel Investment Group and CEO Mitch Caplan resigned. Citigroup relocated investment banker Darin Baur to Hong Kong from Chicago to better position itself for Asian metals-and- mining deals, according to an internal memo obtained by IDD. Baur joined Citi's Chicago office as an associate in 2000 and became a director in 2006. He reports to the head of Asian metals and mining, Alexander Molyneux. Baur moved to Hong Kong in mid-February. In other Citi personnel news, the bank is losing its Palo Alto, Calif.- based co-head of global technology, media and telecommunications investment banking, Christopher Varelas. He is leaving to join Bigwood Capital, a Palo Alto private equity firm focused on small and medium-size investments in the technology sector. Bigwood, which will change its name to "Riverwood," was founded last year by Michael Marks, former chief executive of Flextronics and a senior advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Varelas joined Citi in 1998 as a result of its acquisition of Salomon Smith Barney and led deals such as Hewlett-Packard's purchase of Compaq. A source close to Citi told IDD the firm has not found a replacement. Varelas did not respond to queries. Morgan Stanley hired James Howland as a managing director and operating partner at its private equity business, Morgan Stanley Private Equity. He is based in New York and will assume his duties in April. "With his 22-year track record of success in building businesses across varied industry sectors, Jim is a seasoned executive whose strategic insights and network of relationships will considerably strengthen our portfolio company operational capabilities," said Alan Jones, co-head of Morgan Stanley Private Equity. Howland was most recently president of Dun & Bradstreet's international business. Before Dun & Bradstreet, he held many senior positions at American Express, including president of its International Merchant Services subsidiary. Howland is Morgan Stanley's second private equity operating partner. The firm hired Gary Matthews for the same post in October. Goldman Sachs tapped Cai Jinyong as head of its Chinese investment banking business and chief executive of its Chinese securities joint venture, Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited an internal memo. He replaces Zha Xiangyang as joint venture CEO. Zha is leaving the firm. Cai, who became a Goldman partner in 2006, was most recently in charge of a banking team focused on oil, gas and power deals in China. He previously worked for Morgan Stanley and the World Bank. Cowen Group's chairman and chief executive, Kim Fennebresque, retired following 10 years with the firm. David Malcolm, executive vice chairman, was appointed president and CEO, effective immediately. Fennebresque will maintain his association with Cowen, the holding company for Cowen & Co., as non-executive chairman. Morgan Keegan, the investment banking and brokerage arm of Regions Financial, appointed John Carson Jr. to be its chief executive and R. Patrick Kruczek as president and chief operating officer. Carson and Kruczek are replacing the current CEO and president, Doug Edwards, who will retire in April. Carson was hired by Morgan Keegan in 1994 as an executive managing director and president of fixed income capital markets. He formerly worked for Morgan Stanley and Chase Manhattan. Kruczek became Morgan Keegan's chief administrative officer in 2006, having joined the firm as an investment banker in 1993. He also served as chief operating officer and director of equity research. Robert Pickering resigned as chief executive of JPMorgan Cazenove, a London-based investment bank co-owned by JPMorgan and Cazenove Group. "After 23 years with the firm, seven of those as CEO, I felt it was time to move on and do something different," said Pickering. "I am enormously proud of what we have achieved over the past few years and I am particularly pleased to be leaving the firm in such excellent shape and on the back of another strong set of results." Cazenove Group chairman, David Mayhew, will take over as interim CEO. "Robert has played a key role in the development of Cazenove Group, and was instrumental in the creation of the joint venture with JPMorgan, leading it to such considerable success in the last three years," he said. FBR Capital Markets appointed Bradley Wright as chief financial officer and executive vice president. He comes from Bear Stearns, where he was a senior managing director in charge of finance for the private client services business. Wright joined Bear in 1996 following 14 years at Price Waterhouse, where he was part of the capital markets and treasury division. "Brad's extensive knowledge and experience in the financial services industry will be invaluable as we continue to maximize the strength of our balance sheet and execute our strategic plan," said Eric Billings, chairman and chief executive of Arlington, Va.-based FBR. Kurt Harrington will continue as CFO of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, FBR's parent company. The Blackstone Group tapped Gerry Murphy as a senior managing director in its London office. Murphy will serve Blackstone's portfolio companies in Europe and Asia. Prior to Blackstone, he was chief executive of home improvement retailer Kingfisher for five years. Murphy was also CEO of Carlton Communications, Exel and Greencore Group. In addition, he held senior positions at Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo) in the US, UK and Ireland. KPS Capital Partners entered into a strategic relationship with Pierre de Villemejane, who will advise the New York private equity firm on investments in the North American and European engineered products, assembly industries and capital equipment sectors. The two parties have worked together before. De Villemejane was previously chief executive of a KPS portfolio company, Speedline Technologies, a provider of manufacturing equipment and services for semiconductor and printed circuit board packaging companies. When KPS sold Speedline to IllinoisTool Works, de Villemejane began working for the latter. In the capital equipment, engineered products and assembly industries spaces, KPS will consider standalone investments in operating companies or acquisitions of subsidiaries of large multinational firms. Robert W. Baird & Co.'s Baird Private Equity unit has moved to fortify its Chinese investment franchise by launching an investor group from its Shanghai office. The new team, Baird Capital Partners Asia, will make growth equity investments in small China-based businesses on behalf of Baird Private Equity. "As private equity has flowed into China, smaller, high potential companies have been left behind," said Paul Carbone, director of Baird Private Equity, commenting on the country's investment opportunities. The Baird Capital Partners Asia team is comprised of partners Hock Goh, Huaming Gu and Brett Tucker, operating partner Peter Chung, principal June Shen, associate Helen Lin and investment committee chairman Bruce Allen. They will focus on identifying investments in the business services, healthcare and manufacturing sectors. Greenbriar Equity Group, a Rye, N.Y.-based private equity firm focused on transportation sector investments, hired Noah Roy and Raynard Benvenuti as managing directors and Arvind Krishnamurthy as a director. Roy came to Greenbriar from Goldman Sachs, where he was head of aerospace and defense investment banking. He also advised on transportation deals at Goldman. Prior to Goldman, Roy worked on mergers and restructurings in the airline, automotive, defense and aerospace industries at Rothschild. Benvenuti began serving Greenbriar as an advisory director last year. He was previously president and chief executive of Stellex Aerostructures, a provider of components and assemblies for military and commercial aircraft. Earlier in his career, Benvenuti founded Concord Investment Partners, which concentrated on acquisitions of middle-market companies involved in turnaround situations. He also worked for Forstmann Little & Co. and McKinsey & Co. Krishnamurthy joined Greenbriar from Veritas Capital Management. Prior to Veritas, he was employed at Morgan Stanley Capital Partners and Bain Capital. Stanford Financial Group has brought on Michael Fiorini and Brian Kenney as senior vice presidents of sales and trading in its Stanford Group Co. unit. Fiorini worked on the institutional equity sales side at SG Cowen, A.G. Edwards & Sons and Furman Selz. Earlier in his career, he specialized in auditing, financial analysis and risk assessment at Price Waterhouse and Salomon Brothers. Kenney was most recently a senior sales trader at E*Trade Capital Markets and was also director of trading at Fulcrum Global Partners. Fifteen professionals were added to Stanford Group Co.'s sales and trading team last year. Stanford Financial is a group of financial services companies primarily focused on investment banking and private wealth management for institutions and emerging growth firms. CVC Capital Partners tapped Istvan Szoke as a partner to build a presence in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). He starts in April. "CVC has been seeing increasingly interesting investment opportunities across the CEE markets," said Rob Lucas, CVC managing partner. The Luxembourg- based private equity firm is raising a fund, CVC European Equity Partners V, worth euros 11 billion ($16.7 billion) for possible investment in the region. Szoke was previously a partner with Advent International, where he worked in London and Warsaw and concentrated on CEE investments. Sun Capital Partners appointed Akitoshi Nakamura as chairman and chief executive of its Japanese affiliate, Sun Capital Partners Japan K.K., effective immediately. Nakamura was most recently vice chairman and director of another private equity firm, Nikko Principal Investments Japan. Prior to that, he was a managing director and board member at the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan (IRCJ), a Japanese government- sponsored restructuring business, from 2003 to 2007. Earlier in his career, he worked at Ripplewood Japan, Citibank Japan and Sullivan & Cromwell. Gary Talarico, Sun Capital managing director, said of Nakamura, "His broad and relevant background in law, banking and private equity, as well as his unique experience as one of the most senior executives at IRCJ, are an excellent match with Sun Capital's focus on turnaround investing." Vestar Capital Partners promoted Peter Calamari and Brendan Spillane to principal and executive vice president, respectively. Spillane will continue to serve as the New York private equity firm's corporate chief financial officer. Calamari joined Vestar in 1999 and was most recently a vice president in its consumer group. He was previously part of Merrill Lynch's M&A division. Spillane came to Vestar in 2006 as a vice president. Prior to Vestar, he was CFO of Schroder Ventures' US affiliate, SV Investment Partners. Dahlman Rose & Co., a New York- based investment bank focused on the energy and commodity spaces, tapped Daniel Scott as an equity research director. He will concentrate on the global coal-mining industry. He was most recently a vice president covering independent power and coal- mining companies at Banc of America Securities. Earlier in his career, he worked on the business development side at Poseidon Resources and US Generating Co. Louis Friedman, Bear Stearns' vice chairman of investment banking and global chairman of M&A, is joining New York-based hedge fund P. Schoenfeld Asset Management (PSAM). Friedman will join the firm this spring as president and managing partner to lead a new strategy focused on private investments and long-term public holdings, according to a PSAM statement. Friedman joined Bear Stearns in 2000 from Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, where he built the media and communications M&A group.(c) 2008 Investment Dealers' Digest and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.iddmagazine.com http:// www.sourcemedia.com