StanChart hires Merrill's Smith as oil & gas head

LONDON Aug 11 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered Plc (STAN.L) (2888.HK) hired Kevin Smith, formerly Merrill Lynch's head of UK mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as its top banker advising oil and gas companies.

Smith succeeds Andrew Bartlett, who will become Standard Chartered's global head of oil and gas project financing. The appointment follows shake-ups to European oil and gas banking teams at Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Barclays Capital. [ID:nLF389855]

The move is also the latest in a series of senior departures from Merrill after its acquisition by Bank of America Corp (BAC.N). Some bankers have resigned while top management have encouraged others to seek roles elsewhere.

Smith will be based in London and join Standard Chartered's global M&A team as global head of oil and gas corporate advisory, the Asia-focused bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

He will join in October and report to Prahlad Shantigram, global head of corporate advisory, a Standard Chartered spokeswoman added. Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment.

Smith has 20 years' banking experience, having worked at Merrill and Lazard (LAZ.N). His sector experience includes advising Tullow Oil Plc (TLW.L) on its $1.47 billion Australian dollars ($1.1 billion) purchase of Australia's Hardman Resources, which was completed in 2007.

(Reporting by Quentin Webb; Editing by David Cowell)