Merrill Lynch has recruited Alan Galishoff, the former head of collateralised mortgage obligation and mortgage derivative trading at JP Morgan, to run a newly created US mortgage relative value trading desk.

A spokesman for Merrill Lynch said that Galishoff will take charge of the business, which is a greenfield operation, when he joins the bank on Monday. Galishoff is expected to make further hires to the team in the near future. Bankers said the establishment of the new team is a sign that Merrill Lynch is hiring selectively despite cutting 21,700 jobs, or 30% of its workforce, since the third quarter of 2000.