It’s been a rocky ride for people working in DCM. What are the prospects for those who’ve had the misfortune to be made redundant?

Last month Reuters reported that Bank of America is scaling back its DCM business in Asia.

Sources say the bank, a relatively small player in the Asian DCM arena, will no longer originate, structure or arrange DCM deals, including bonds, loans and structured products, in the region. One source said about 15 DCM staff, including all originators and structurers, were fired in January.

The bad news for anyone ousted from a DCM role right now is that it’s not likely to prove easy to get back in. Richie Holliday, managing director of recruitment firm Morgan McKinley in Hong Kong, says there’s not much hiring going on in DCM right now, and there’s been quite a lot of ‘restructuring’ within credit teams across Asia.

Nor does the buyside offer much hope. “It has affected investors in DCM as well,” says Holliday. “That’s why some candidates in DCM from top tier banks are also looking for opportunities in other areas.”

However, Holliday adds that even though the credit market isn’t so hot right now, there are still a few vacancies and Asia still appears to have some “slight” protection from the rest of the global market.

Gary Lai, manager of front office banking at recruiter Robert Walters in Singapore, is more upbeat.

According to Lai, there are jobs on offer in Asia, and banks locally are keen to capitalise on the flow of fixed income bankers coming out of the US and Europe: “Banks are seizing this opportunity to hire some of these redundant bankers in order to expand their coverage throughout the region.”