Another ex-Merrill vet leaves Citadel

James Boyle the third former Merrill exec to depart Chicago-based firm in a year

Ken Griffin’s $11 billion Citadel LLC named Brad Kurtzman sole head of equity derivatives in the securities unit after co-head James Boyle left yesterday, said Devon Spurgeon, a Citadel spokeswoman.

Boyle, who joined the Chicago-based firm last year, is at least the third former Merrill Lynch executive to leave the securities unit in the past year. Todd Kaplan, the former head of investment banking, left in January, less than a year after joining. Rohit D’Souza, who ran Citadel Securities, quit a year ago after seven months in the role.

Separately, Citadel Securities plans to fire 12 people in sales and trading, a person briefed on the plans said yesterday. The layoffs, which will be made this week, represent about 5 percent of the sales and trading group, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Spurgeon declined to comment on the dismissals.

Griffin started the securities unit to expand his hedge- fund firm by underwriting and trading stocks and bonds and advising corporations on mergers and acquisitions. Patrik Edsparr, who succeeded D’Souza, was ousted in May, seven months after Griffin picked him for the position

Citadel Securities reported earnings of $81.6 million on revenue of $1.01 billion last year, most of which came from Citadel’s nine-year-old options and equities market-making business, according to financial statements filed Feb. 25 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Citadel Securities, which Griffin started in 2008, has about 500 clients trading contracts worth more than $1 billion a week, Spurgeon said. The firm started offering research to clients last month covering more than 20 companies in the telecommunications, gaming and lodging industries, she said.

Citadel plans to have a team of 12 senior analysts by the middle of next year covering industries including health care, financial services and technology, Spurgeon said. Citadel Securities is also hiring within its fixed income and equities businesses, she said.

Boyle joined Citadel from Bank of America Corp., which in January 2009 bought Merrill Lynch & Co., where Boyle worked for 13 years and was global head of equity derivatives trading.

Kurtzman, who ran equity derivatives at Citadel Securities with Boyle, also joined Citadel last year from Bank of America and had worked at Merrill Lynch for eight years.