Paul Geradine, the head of the UK Listing Authority, has jumped the fence into investment banking and joined HSBC as a director in its equity capital markets business.

Geradine has been head of the UK Listing Authority since the beginning of 1998, when the regulation of new issues and listing rules was still under control of the London Stock Exchange. Control of listings passed to the Financial Services Authority in May 2000, and the listings department formally moved into the FSA's headquarters last month.