Traders from some of the world's largest banks are said to have been deceived by so-called 'cold calls,' with these cold calls using potential job opportunities at firms such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as bait to lead them to disclose their own salaries, their team composition, and even detailed information on their trading desk's profit and loss statement. However, in reality, these job opportunities often do not exist. The names they give over the phone are fake, and even the employers they claim to represent, like the Omertion Group or companies such as AMO Research, are fictitious.

According to data and 10 informed sources, these calls are made by employees of the recruitment and market intelligence firm Odin Partners. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, the informed sources requested anonymity. Odin operates in London, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and its website claims to have recruited over 900 executives for international financial institutions, making it one of the most renowned recruitment companies in the finance industry over the past decade.

Individuals directly familiar with the situation state that much of the company's information comes from legitimate interactions with traders, including face-to-face meetings. However, Odin staff are also alleged to use false identities to obtain sensitive market intelligence from traders at some of the world's major banks. Several sources claim that this information has been shared with unknowing clients.

Odin's clients include Wall Street giants like Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, as well as UBS Group, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, and BNP Paribas among European banks. These banks declined to comment for this article.

Last year, Odin employees reportedly used a process internally referred to as 'rusing' when interacting with bankers. This term can be traced back to the 1500s and refers to behavior aimed at misleading or deceiving. The company leverages information gathered from unsuspecting bankers and traders during phone calls to conduct what they call 'market mapping' on some major market participants, who engage in trading activities involving some of the world's largest asset classes from interest rates to forex.

Some of the world's largest banks' traders are reportedly misled by cold calls

Traders from some of the world's largest banks are reportedly misled by cold calls.

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, data obtained through 'schemes' is often used by Odin to demonstrate to clients, including detailed analysis of the performance of competitors' trading departments.

According to publicly disclosed documents, Odin's co-founders, James Hext and Mounaver Thomas, are also directors of the market research company Vali Analytics. Vali sells aggregated market data to banks, and the company's data is also cited by the media.

Based on interviews with 18 informed sources who have direct knowledge of Odin and its business operations, as well as the company's relationship with the world's largest banks. Due to concerns about future employment and the sensitivity of the topics, everyone requested anonymity. Several former Odin employees admitted to participating in such activities and stated that company executives, including Hext, guided them on how to collect this type of information from bank trading desks.

Hext and Thomas have repeatedly refused to publicly respond to this article. Tom Bury, a director of Odin Partners Asia Ltd., did not respond to multiple emails and messages seeking comments.

In a letter dated September 13, the law firm Quastels, representing Odin, Vali, Hext, and Thomas, stated that these allegations are 'untrue.' Following further inquiries, they issued a brief statement on October 9. 'Odin Partners is now in dispute with those they believe are responsible for these allegations and advises against making public comments on the questions raised by this time. Regarding Vali, its business is completely separate and different from Odin's business.'

Currently, no evidence has been found to indicate that Vali Analytics used data obtained through schemes.

Encouraging the use of schemes

According to sources familiar with the matter and written communication, as early as 2022, Hext encouraged Odin employees to work with schemes. According to several sources, employees would meticulously record their conversations, note their own and Odin's pseudonyms, and detailed information they collected. Allegedly, traders and salespeople from banks such as UBS, Deutsche Bank, Nomura Holdings, BNP Paribas, and Morgan Stanley became targets. Representatives from these banks declined to comment.

In addition to obtaining profit and loss data from various trading desks and traders' salaries, these documents show that individuals engaged in strategic activities also recorded the education level and other personal information of the targets. Some documents show that a suspicious trader once asked for a large amount of information about the fake company's name and its operations, and hesitated to talk about himself, even though he was interested in a position at the so-called morgan stanley.

A trader in Odin's 2022 records said he does not remember receiving a phone call, but he added that some annual profit and loss data stored under his name by Odin, as well as information about his working relationship with a colleague, are correct. Another trader whose name appears in the documents said that despite receiving over 1,000 headhunter calls in recent years, he does not remember this one in 2023.

Those who make cold calls believe that most traders do not ask too many questions when they receive favorable salary or workplace information. Bankers say that in this industry known for gossip and where information is wealth, routine communication with headhunters when searching for new jobs can be very useful.

Some of the world's largest banks' traders are reportedly misled by cold calls

Profitable

When Wall Street banks, as well as counterparts in Asia and Europe, need to hire top traders, they often rely on a few recruiting firms to complete this task. These companies operate in a delicate business that requires a detailed understanding of the current bankers' salaries and individual performance in the trading departments, which are two of the most closely guarded pieces of information in the banking industry.

This job can be highly rewarding. Successful traders working at large companies can negotiate compensation worth millions of dollars. The headhunter fee can be around 25% of the total compensation in the first year.