SG, the corporate and investment banking arm of Société Générale, has recruited Rachel Jones from Abbey National as a vice-president in its leveraged finance team in London.

The loss of Jones, who was previously part of the acquisition finance team, comes at a time when Abbey National is under pressure after ambitiously expanding into riskier areas of finance. It exited the high-yield debt market and has stopped investing in private equity, awaiting a review that is widely expected to result in a change in strategy. The architect of Abbey's expansion, Ian Harley, chief executive, was removed from Abbey's board in July.