Joe Linhares, BlackRock’s head of iShares in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is stepping down from his role and will be replaced by Rachel Lord, Citigroup’s global head of corporate equity derivatives, Financial News has learnt.

Linhares will return to the US to take on an undefined role that will be confirmed in "autumn", according to an internal memo from David Blumer, head of Emea at BlackRock, and Mark Wiedman, global head of iShares. A spokesman for the world's largest fund manager confirmed the contents of the memo but declined to comment further.