When Citi’s global head of foreign exchange, Anil Prasad, breezed through Sydney last week he identified Australia as a global centre for foreign exchange trading.

As one of the firm’s fastest growing divisions, FX is vital to reviving Citi’s international profitability. Sydney – one of five global FX hubs for the bank, alongside London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo – looks set to play an important part in Prasad’s plans.

But the US bank is not alone in wanting to expand in Australia: FX recruitment is rising across the board, especially at Barclays, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Nomura, according to one recruiter who asked not to be named in this article.

“Banks are looking at what other areas they can extract income from which complement existing businesses and further support client needs – FX is one of these. They are also building out teams on the ground locally, whereas before this would have been covered from Asia,” comments another headhunter, Patrick Everest, a partner at Jon Michel Executive Search.

“Salespeople are most in demand, then price-makers, then strategists. FX proprietary traders were sought throughout the GFC and remain so,” says Luke Heath, chief executive of Chandler Heath Executive Recruitment.

Front office demand is focused at VP/director-level, according to Everest. Firms want people with established client relationships who can contribute to generating revenue from the start.

“Banks are still being very specific about their requirements, so the number of potential target candidates can be quite small,” adds Everest.

Vacancies aren’t limited to the front-office. “We have definitely seen people with FX and money market operations skills being pursued by multiple firms. In operations, the demand is across all levels, but most prevalent for roles that need two to five years of experience,” says David Barr, director, Robert Walters.