France's Societe Generale has poached Royal Bank of Scotland's top European energy banker to head its UK investment banking team as it seeks to bulk up its advisory business.
Fiona Paulus will join Societe Generale at the end of January as head of UK client coverage and investment banking, reporting to Thierry Aulagnon in Paris, who is the global head of that team, and British country head Ian Fisher.
In a telephone interview, Paulus said the bank would focus particularly on building relationships with energy companies, drawing on its strength in areas such as project finance, and with financial institutions.
Paulus said she was looking forward to building up a business at SocGen, with its solid balance sheet, "no government interference, and no questions about its future direction".
Paulus was RBS's head of energy and natural resources for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Before that, she briefly headed the bank's team advising private equity firms, after leading ABN Amro's energy practice before its takeover.
Her biggest deals include advising Tata Steel Ltd on its £6.2 billion purchase of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2007 and Spanish power company Iberdrola SA on its £11.6 billion takeover of Scottish Power, worth about $19.1 billion at current exchange rates.
In May SocGen hired Thierry d'Argent, former head of French mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at JPMorgan, and said it planned to hire about 20 senior bankers and 15 M&A specialists.
Paulus's role at RBS will be split between Simon Wilde, head of power and utilities, and metals and mining head Maria Tikhomirova.
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