BMO Capital Markets has established a foreign exchange sales and trading desk in London, England, a move that it says will further bolster BMO’s dominant position in the Canadian-dollar foreign exchange market.

The new office provides BMO’s growing base of FX clients with improved access to information and increased liquidity during the European session.

To lead this effort, BMO has appointed Lorne Gavsie as director, sales & trading in London. Gavsie’s primary role will be to build a platform in Europe focused on the Canadian dollar and active order management for clients.

The firm has also hired Derek Shewring and Simon Watkins, two leading European FX professionals, to build upon BMO’s new on the ground European FX desk capabilities.

Shewring is named director & senior trader and will be responsible for trading spot FX, executing client transactions and risk management on behalf of BMO. Watkins is appointed vp, sales & trading and will have a dual role focused on both marketing and trading.

“London is an important market for us as we continue to build our leadership presence in the global foreign exchange market,” says Jamie Thorsen, global head of foreign exchange products & China capital markets for BMO Capital Markets.

Gavsie joined BMO in 2001 and was most recently responsible for generating business opportunities with the firm’s FX and investment banking clients. Previously based in Toronto, he brings immense knowledge in successfully advising, structuring and executing FX deals for clients involved in large M&A and capital market issues. Gavsie will report to Firas Askari, managing director and head of Canadian dollar trading, based in Toronto.

Shewring joins BMO most recently from the buy-side, where he managed the execution and marketing efforts for C-View, a large UK-based fund. He brings more than 30 years of FX trading experience to BMO, having held the previous position of chief dealer with both RBC Capital Markets and Bank of America.

Watkins brings more than 15 years of FX experience to BMO having spent the bulk of his career on the London FX forward desk at TD Securities. His deep knowledge of the Canadian dollar forward market and strong technical background adds immediate value to the BMO FX team.