The decision comes amid New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation of the bank's sale of auction-rate securities.

BTIG LLC, a broker dealer specializing in equity trading and brokerage services, appointed Kenneth Savio as a senior managing director and co-head of global equities.

Savio joins after 20-plus years at Bear Stearns Cos., where he was a senior managing director and co-head of global and sales trading. Savio will report to managing partners Steve Starker and Scott Kovalik.

Credit Suisse Group brought in David Norman as CEO of asset management for the U.K. and Ireland, reporting to JC Perrig, head of its Europe, Middle East and Africa region for Credit Suisse Asset Management. Norman was director of marketing and products at Morley Fund Management.

New York investment bank Morgan Joseph & Co. tapped senior equity research analyst Z. James Chen to cover Chinese companies listed in the U.S.

Chen comes to the firm from BB&T Capital Markets, where he covered chemical and advanced materials companies. He was also an analyst of chemical companies at Fulcrum Global Partners.

Lake Pointe Partners LLC added James Sharwarko as a partner. He has consulted for various private equity sponsors including Allied Capital, Code, Hennessy & Simmons, Harbour Group and Kirtland Capital.

Christopher Zaback joined D. E. Shaw & Co. LP as chief financial officer and a managing director. He succeeds Stuart Steckler, a member of the executive committee, who will retain overall responsibility for most firm-wide infrastructure. Zaback worked at Sandelman Partners LP, where he was co-chief operating officer and previously CFO. He also worked at Moore Capital Management LLC, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Ernst & Young LLP.

Andrew Leek, formerly with Alchemy Partners, is now an assistant director with Inflexion Private Equity. Clara Chen, formerly at Marakon Strategy Consultants, took a role as investment executive.

Additionally, Christian Hamilton and Catherine Richards were promoted from assistant directors to investment directors and Tim Smallbone was promoted to partner.

Bingham McCutchen LLP has expanded its international securities practice, adding four lawyers to its Washington office:

Partner Geoffrey Aronow is a former enforcement director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and former managing shareholder of Heller Ehrman LLP's Washington office. Partner Margaret Blake worked at Winston & Strawn LLP. Joining as of counsel are Joseph Brady, former associate general counsel at the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc., and Timothy Nagy, formerly with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Department of Regulation.

In Hong Kong, Shearman & Sterling LLP hired Gregory Puff as a partner. Puff, an associate at Shearman from 1993 to 2002, most recently served as a partner and head of mergers and acquisitions for Asia at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.

Vanessa Edwards joined the London office of K&L Gates LLP as a partner in the regulatory group. Edwards joins from the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, where she was Chef de Cabinet for the U.K. advocate general since 1998. From 1982 to 1993, Edwards practiced at Linklaters LLP.

Intellectual property litigator and transactional attorney James Nguyen was tapped by Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP as a partner in Los Angeles.

Nguyen comes to the firm from Foley & Lardner LLP, where he served as vice chair of the IP litigation practice. He also co-founded and formerly co-chaired its entertainment and media industry team.

Formerly chair of media and entertainment practice at Foley & Lardner, M. Kenneth Suddleson joined Wildman Harrold in July to head the new Los Angeles office.

In New York, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP hired George Yankwitt, Mary Chang and Robert Wolf as partners in the litigation, international dispute resolution and bankruptcy litigation practices. All arrive from Bryan Cave LLP.

Separately, Squire Sanders added three lawyers to its maritime practice in New York. Partners Brian Starer and Douglas Burnett, and of counsel Juan Anduiza join from Holland & Knight LLP.

Richard Devine will join Bryan Cave LLP in Chicago following his final term as Cook County State's Attorney in Illinois in spring 2009. Devine will lead the litigation group in Chicago and will cover white collar defense and investigations, securities litigation and enforcement, class action and commercial litigation groups.

Goodwin Procter LLP took on Parker Bagley as a partner in its intellectual property and litigation practice in New York. He comes in from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.