The coronavirus is starting to take its toll on the Oslo finance community with the departure of the top banker at Fearnley Securites amid temporary staff furloughs, and the resignation of a prominent Nordea lender.
Marius Halvorsen is out as chief executive of Fearnley Securities, several finance sources told TradeWinds on Friday.
Meanwhile, veteran Nordea banker Ronny Bjornadal has chosen to resign his post as head of global maritime loans in a development suggested to be unlike the Fearnley cuts.
Halvorsen’s shock depature is said to have come after he had made the call for temporary furloughs to eight members of the staff, including investment banker Rikard Vabo and securities salesman Peter Wessel.
Within days, a decision was taken by senior Fearnleys management to reinstate Vabo and Wessel, and instead it was Halvorsen who was shown the door, the sources said.
The departure was attributed to a difference in views as to the direction of the firm, they said.
An email to Halvorsen was not returned by TradeWinds’ deadline.
However, a source with direct knowledge of this week’s events confirmed the scenario to TradeWinds.
Halvorsen was promoted to the top spot at Fearnley Securities in March 2019, replacing Even Matre Ellingsen.
Halvorsen joined Fearnley Securities in 2015 as chief executive of its new US operation, having previously headed RS Platou Markets' US business.
The Fearnleys cuts come just days after a leading public executive, Scorpio Group president Robert Bugbee, told TradeWinds he was concerned that economic pressure from the virus could stress Norwegian banks and particularly the analyst community.
No Oslo analysts are known to have been affected yet, but Halvorsen and Bjornadal are two high-profile faces on the Oslo finance scene.
A source close to Bjornadal’s departure draws a distinction between the two cases, saying the gregarious banker had made his own call about leaving Nordea and would be pursuing new opportunities.
Staff were informed of the departure this week.
A 24-year veteran, Bjornadal has been a champion of the loan-syndication market for much of the tenure.
And while the market ran rampant in the early to mid-2000s during a rare shipping “super-cycle” boom, it has not been the same since the 2007 "credit crunch" and in recent years has been practically non-existent.
So-called club deals and bilateral loans have ruled the day, to the extent that owners can arrange traditional debt financing.
In better days, Nordea under Bjornadal’s direction and Norwegian competitor DNB usually held the top two positions in the syndication league tables.
Bjornadal declined comment on his status Friday.
More generally, Nordea has been in cost-cutting mode.
Earlier this month, Nordea Bank made two senior staff redundant from Martin Lunder's New York office amid a general belt-tightening initiative, slicing the ranks to five from seven.
However, Lunder stressed that Nordea has no plans to step away from shipping.
“This was part of a general cost-cutting focus within Nordea,” Lunder said in a recent interview.
“Our commitment and strategy has not changed when it comes to shipping. However, the cost focus is intense.”
