McGuire to join Citigroup: top Wall Street banker leaves Morgan Stanley.

Raymond J. McGuire resigned from his position as co-head of global mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley to join Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking as global co-head of investment banking. Effective July 6, McGuire will work with Alberto Verme, a longtime friend and colleague who previously was sole head of the division.

McGuire will also join the CIB Global Banking Operating Committee, the CIB Executive Planning Group, and the Citigroup Management Committee.

The talented and well-connected Wall Street banker leaves Morgan Stanley at a time when the company is reeling from several key departures prompted by chief executive Philip J. Purcell's management shake-up, reported The Wall Street Journal. However, in an interview with the newspaper, McGuire said his decision to leave was "not about Morgan Stanley." In a prepared statement, McGuire continued, "I greatly look forward to joining Citigroup. This represents a rare and wonderful opportunity to work with my partners to deliver this firm's unmatched global expertise to the world's most demanding clients."

In our October 2002 issue, BLACK ENTERPRISE named McGuire one of the Top 50 African Americans on Wall Street. His counsel of large corporations considering mergers helped Morgan Stanley capture Global Securities Information Inc.'s No. I ranking in M&A for 2001 with $220 billion in deals. More recently, as the senior M&A banker on the General Electric Co. account, the Wall Street titan led a Morgan Stanley team advising Unilever Group to sell its fragrance division to Coty Inc. in May.

"Citigroup is committed to best-in-class corporate and investment banking," says Charles Prince, chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc. "I would like to personally welcome Ray. His leadership talents, deal experience, and stature as a first-class trusted adviser to some of the world's most sophisticated corporate clients will only contribute further to our momentum in investment banking."