A group of ex-bankers led by the former head of leveraged finance at Japanese broker, Nomura International, have launched a new debt advisory firm in a bid to take advantage of rising demand among companies for services related to debt restructuring and capital raising.

Michael Berry, who ran leveraged finance at Nomura in London for just under three years, has been named chief executive of Versatus - meaning to turn or turnaround in Latin - with former ABN Amro debt banker, Jacco Brouwer, named managing director.