Energy traders exit Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank has lost three senior energy traders and salesmen from its London-based commodities desk.

According to traders at Deutsche Bank, Alex Thistlethwayte, director of oil trading left the German bank earlier this week.

Hector Freitas, an energy marketer left Deutsche Bank this month to join Morgan Stanley, and Kieran McKenna, an oil option trader left to join a hedge fund.

None of the traders could be reached for comment and a Deutsche Bank spokeswoman did not immediately return calls.

A source close to the German bank said a modest round of bonuses across Deutsche Bank's commodities division for 2004 was likely to have prompted the departures.

Earlier this month, Simon Holmes, a director on Deutsche Bank's gas trading desk, left to join Tudor Investment, a US hedge fund with $10bn (€7.5bn) under management.