RBC Capital Markets hires FX sales director in Hong Kong

RBC Capital Markets, the corporate and investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada, announced that it has hired Stefanie Holtze as a director in foreign exchange sales based in Hong Kong. Holtze will report to Natasha Brook-Walters, managing director and global head of institutional FX Sales, and Tony Tse, director and head of sales for Asia ex-Japan.

Holtze brings more than 10 years' market experience to RBC Capital Markets, including previous FX roles at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in Frankfurt. She has also previously worked in FX sales at RBC Capital Markets in London. Holtze most recently worked at Smith & Jessen headhunters in Hong Kong.

"As we look to continue our growth in Asia, Stefanie's extensive experience and knowledge in FX will help us further develop and enhance our client coverage in the region," said Brook-Walters in a press release. "This is an area of focus for RBC Capital Markets and we continue to look out for experienced professionals to add to our team. We are delighted to welcome Stefanie back to RBC."

During the past 12 months, RBC Capital Markets has hired in excess of 300 people throughout its global capital markets operations. RBC's hiring spree has extended to Asia: in July it named Minako Endo as a director and head of institutional fixed-income sales in its Tokyo office and Chris Tam as a director in its fixed-income and currencies sales team in Hong Kong.

Despite challenging and turbulent markets, RBC recently announced a record net income of C$1.6 billion ($1.48 billion) for the third quarter ending July 31, 2009, up C$299 million or 24% from a year earlier. RBC Capital Markets in particular had a strong performance with net income of C$562 million, up C$293 million from a year ago. RBC, the largest bank in Canada and the 12th largest in the world, is one of only six banks with a triple-A rating from Moody's, which is supported by a tier-1 capital ratio of 12.9%.