Citadel Securities' big new Asian hire just landed. What next?

It's been a long time coming. Bloomberg reported in February that Citadel Securities had hired Vikesh Kotecha from hedge fund Millennium as its head of Asia.  10 months later, after what was presumably a non-compete period, he's actually arrived. 

Kotecha joined Citadel Securities' Hong Kong office last week. Prior to his arrival, the firm didn't have a head of Asia, making his Kotecha's appearance doubly significant - he's expected to drive Citadel Securities' continued expansion in the region.

Citadel Securities already has six offices in Asia, including Hong Kong Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo and Gurugram. It's doubled its regional headcount in three years to 250 people. Kotecha will report directly to Citadel Securities' CEO Peng Zhao and will work closely with the firm's head of China, Tony Tang, who's also based in Hong Kong and who joined from BlackRock in September 2023. The firm is reportedly planning to build a brokerage firm from the ground up in China, after it failed in its attempt to acquire Credit Suisse's Chinese business in June. It's also said to be expanding in India and looking for a head of the Indian business it opened two years ago. 

Kotecha most recently spent four years at Millennium as head of equities, but was previously head of derivatives, Asia at UBS and head of equities for Asia at Barclays. 

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