A high-profile and well-respected member of the European trading circuit has left UBS to join rival Citigroup as head of its electronic trading business in the region, Financial News has learnt.

A source familiar with the matter said Tim Wildenberg, who has been with UBS for over 10 years, resigned from the Swiss bank yesterday and is set to join Citigroup as a managing director in its equities franchise later this year. At UBS, he was most recently head of of direct equities execution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.