Citigroup Inc. has hired Nick Roe, Global Head of Prime Services at Deutsche Bank, to build its European prime brokerage business.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The recruitment of Roe, who resigned on Tuesday  and starts his new job in London this October, is a major coup for Citigroup, which has made no secret of its intention to rapidly scale up its prime brokerage business to tap into a previously ignored niche that has grown into a significant earner for its competitors.

Roe is well known in the European hedge funds space and is widely credited with developing Deutsche Bank's rapid ascendancy into the number three prime brokerage business in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Europe, behind Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Before joining Deutsche Bank, he was head of sales and marketing for the prime brokerage business of Morgan Stanley.

Citigroup, in an internal memo sent to equity employees, reportedly said Roe will be managing director and head of European Equity Finance/Prime Brokerage.

At Deutsche Bank, Roe has successfully built and mostly retained a core in-house team of senior executives who run its prime services business.