Exclusive-Citi to overhaul London trading team linked to ‘flash crash’ -sources By Reuters

By Sinead Cruise

LONDON (Reuters) – Citigroup (NYSE:) is overhauling the leadership of one of the teams linked to the ‘flash crash’ that sent European stock markets tumbling this month, three sources told Reuters.

Ali Omari, who was EMEA Head of Delta One Forwards and Sectors, has left the U.S. bank, two people with knowledge of his departure, who declined to be named, said.

Citi is now looking to name a new Head of Forward Trading based at its European headquarters in London, a job vacancy posted on professional networking site LinkedIn shows.

Omari, who was not reachable through Citi’s communications systems, did not respond to an attempt by Reuters to reach him via LinkedIn.

Two of the three sources familiar with the matter said the Delta One unit was linked to, although not responsible for, the data input blunder that caused the pan-European equity benchmark to fall by more than 2 percentage points in around two minutes of trading.

Citi has previously confirmed that one of its employees was behind the error that led to the market fall on May 2, but has not given details on which teams played a role.

A spokesperson for Citi declined to comment on the nature and timing of the hiring plans in its Delta One operations.

So-called Delta One desks sell structured financial products to sophisticated investors including pension funds, hedge funds and blue chip corporate clients.

News of the changes in the trading unit comes as Citi is pursuing a root-and-branch revamp of its risk management and controls systems.

Citi is still subject to at least two consent orders by U.S. regulators related to its internal controls after the United States’ Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) lifted a 10-year-old order in late April.