HSBC Hires RBS’s Crystal to Head U.S. High-Yield Bond Sales

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Europe’s biggest bank, hired Thomas Crystal from Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) to head high-yield bond and loan sales in the U.S.

Crystal is based in New York and reports to Cary Goodwin, head of U.S. credit sales, according to an e-mailed statement from the bank today. Before joining RBS in November 2009, he worked at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp., according to records maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

HSBC is 14th most-active underwriter of high-yield bond sales in the U.S. this year, from 15th place last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In 2010, it hired Keith “Lex” Malas to co-head leveraged and acquisition finance in North America.

Crystal’s appointment “will allow us to continue building upon our current success while we look to expand our presence in the leverage finance area,” said Patrick Nolan, chief executive officer for HSBC Global Banking and Markets in the Americas, in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Abramowicz in New York at labramowicz@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net