Jefferies’s Southeast Asia, India Dealmaker Rao to Leave, Sources Say

Rao is departing the firm as bankers in Asia are increasingly looking outside China for deals, in part because of geopolitical tensions between the country and the US. India has already set an annual record for deals with $165 billion worth in the year to date, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Jefferies was among the advisers on India’s biggest deal this year, HDFC Bank Ltd. and Housing Development Finance Corp.’s $60 billion all-stock merger.