Australian branch of the merged Bank of America-Merrill Lynch hired a team of around ten bankers and traders from rivals Royal Bank of Scotland's fixed income and currency trading desks.

Reports claimed that the chief of Delta trading at RBS Chris Thomas would become the new chief of fixed income, currencies & commodities at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s Australian unit.

It was also informed that Chris Thomas was accompanied by nine other bankers form RBS.

RBS has confirmed the news but declined to mention the number of staff left it.

Commenting on the issue, a spokesperson for RBS said, “This is not going to impact our ability to continue business as usual.”

This is the second hiring spree in the last six months for America-Merrill Lynch. Earlier, it allured UBS’ real estate team.