Lazard has hit back at a wave of senior departures with the appointment of Laurence Grafstein as global head of its telecoms investment banking group.

Grafstein, who joins the firm immediately, is one of the most senior telecoms bankers on Wall Street. He joins from Gramercy Communications Partners, a US boutique advisory firm, but before that was head of the global telecoms group at Credit Suisse First Boston. He joined CSFB from Wasserstein Perella where he was head of telecoms and media. At Lazard Grafstein is taking up a newly created position.