Dutch investment bank ABN Amro has hired two employees from a leading rival in a bid to boost its commodity derivatives trading team.
Several banks have joined the race to enhance their commodity derivatives markets over the past few years and ABN said it hoped to capitalise on last year's move into over-the-counter products.
Wayne Harburn, new global head of commodity trading and Vincent Chavonez, head of commodity marketing, have both arrived from BNP Paribas where they worked in similar roles.
"These additions to our team will enable us to provide a deeper product set to a wider group of clients - on both the issuer and investor sides," said Graham Bird, global head of rates markets.
Oil prices have reached 13 year highs in the past few days but some analysts say the market is overvalued and will ultimately slide.