Natexis Banques Populaires, the French investment bank and asset manager, is to open in London to sell fixed income and equity products according to sources in the capital markets.

The move follows the hiring of Olivier Regis from Lehman Brothers. Regis worked on the government bond desk at Lehman in France, where the US firm is a primary dealer in French government bonds. Sources in the bond market said Regis would probably be based in London.