Indosuez WI Carr Securities yesterday saw most of its futures team walk out in a defection rarely seen, while the broking industry undergoes a slump.
The departures forced the brokerage to suspend futures trading for the day, as it scrambled to put together a team to begin executing orders next week.
Managing director Nakhli Zeidan, head of the derivatives team, said five of the eight dedicated futures dealers and sales executives had left.
'They are pursuing other opportunities,' he said.
The team is believed to have been poached by a United States bank seeking to enter the market. The bank could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Last December, the brokerage fired about 12 per cent of its staff and in January offered the remaining employees pay cuts that averaged about 10 per cent, according to staff members.