The departure of Yusuf Alireza from Goldman Sachs, leaving David Ryan as the sole head of the region, may be another sign that even bankers in trading don’t see light at the end of the tunnel in 2011 and are looking elsewhere for new opportunities.
Alireza, who was among four Asia-based members of the firm’s global management committee, joined Goldman Sachs in 1992 in fixed income research in New York and made partner in 2004. He moved to Hong Kong in 2008 to run the securities division in Asia, which is responsible for sales, trading and investments in fixed income and equity products, currencies, commodities and derivatives, as well as...