Ex-Lehman trader to head StanChart energy team-sources

SINGAPORE, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered (STAN.L) has hired Arun Murthy, former Asia head of Lehman Brothers' commodities team in Singapore, as its new global head of energy, two trading sources close to the discussions said on Friday.

The sources Reuters spoke to said StanChart had also hired two more ex-Lehman Brothers traders to join the team in Singapore, just a few weeks after Cyril Youinou, also ex-Lehman, joined StanChart as head of the Singapore oil trading desk.

The two traders are Michael Slater, a senior trader with Lehman Brothers, and Abhinav Jain, traders said.

A StanChart spokesman in Singapore did not confirm the appointments but added: "We are reviewing talented people who have become available due to market dislocations and potential hires will accelerate building this capability. We cannot discuss specifics at this stage," the spokesman said in an email.

The three traders will start their work with StanChart next month, one of the sources said.

The global head of commodities sales, Sean Mulhearn, told Reuters in an interview last month that StanChart would keep expanding its commodity and energy trading operations, despite the credit cris.

Murthy, Youinou and Slater all worked previously for J.Aron in Singapore, Goldman Sachs' (GS.N) commodities arm.

Murthy was managing director with J.Aron in Singapore before he joined Lehman to set up the commodities desk in Singapore last year.

Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection last month after collapsing from its exposure to risky subprime mortgage securities.

Japan's Nomura Holdings (8604.T) said last week it was to buy the Asian operations of Lehman Brothers after outbidding rivals.

The departure of Lehman's senior energy traders to rival StanChart could make it hard for the Japanese securities company to increase its leverage in the energy sector.

Nomura, which is said to be also in talks to buy Lehman's business in Europe, said it would buy Lehman's franchise in Asia Pacific, including Japan and Australia.

StanChart had also been interested in Lehman's Asian assets, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said last week.

Stanchart has a global commodities and energy team of 40 people offering commodity-linked financing and structured products in precious metals, base metals, energy and farm products. (Additional reporting by Chua Baizhen; Editing by Ben Tan) (Reporting by Maryelle Demongeot; Editing by Sambit Mohanty)