Lucio Matassoni has joined OCBC in London to set up a forfaiting division for the Singapore-based bank. Glen Cabrelli and Nadeem Siddiqui have also joined OCBC.

David Lilley replaces Matassoni as head of forfaiting at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Europe. Lilley was previously assistant general manager at SMBC. He joined SMBC from London Forfaiting Company before that.

SMBC plans to replace the lost staff. “It’s very much business as usual,” says Lilley. “We”re expanding and looking for new staff.”

SMBC has moved Mark Donald from the back office to the trading desk, while the bank is considering a replacement in Singapore for Ed Wong, who left SMBC earlier in 2006 for Citibank’s distribution desk. “It’s not out of the question bringing someone into Singapore,” adds Lilley. “At the moment we ‘re continuing to develop the Asian business through London, but there’s a lot of opportunity for us out there, especially in Japan and China.”