Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso appointed Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano as the new Finance Minister. Yosano replaces Shoichi Nakagawa, who was forced to resign after appearing intoxicated at a G-7 news conference in Rome on Feb. 14. Nakagawa (pictured) blamed his mannerisms and speech on jet lag and the ingestion of cold medicine.

Jefferies Group Inc. is acquiring Depfa First Albany Securities LLC, a New York-based municipal securities firm that provides investment banking, advisory and sales and trading services. More than 70 people will join Jefferies' fixed-income business.

Kenneth Gibbs, CEO of Depfa First Albany, will become president of the municipal securities division, which will conduct business as Jefferies First Albany Securities.

Depfa expanded its public finance investment banking effort in the past year, appointing Neil Flanagan, an 18-year veteran of Bear, Stearns & Co., to head its public finance department. Flanagan becomes a managing director and head of public finance at Jefferies.

The Financial Services Authority made Mark Norris its chief operating officer. He was COO of Credit Suisse Group's U.K. private banking business. Earlier, Norris was head of operations for Deutsche Asset Management in Europe before moving to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s worldwide securities services business in the U.S. He later took over as head of operations in Europe at the bank's asset management business in London.

Natixis Private Equity Asia announced that Kevin Wang, partner for China, is leaving the firm on Feb. 27. Wang, who decided to set up his own private equity venture, will continue to work with NPEA on specific investment opportunities.

The firm entered the China PE market in 2002, hiring Wang that year to support the move. Natixis said it is pursuing transactions in China, is hiring and is expected to open a Beijing office this year.

Lazard said Alexander Doll will join the firm as a managing director in its financial advisory business in Germany. He will arrive in May after eight years with UBS, where he has advised the public sector and European companies on transactions in the transport, logistics, infrastructure, consumer and retail industries.

Based in Frankfurt, Doll will focus on investment banking efforts in Germany, and central and eastern Europe. He will work closely with Ernst Fassbender, head of investment banking in Germany, and other senior members of the financial advisory business.

Before joining UBS in 2001, Doll worked at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in New York and Frankfurt.

Independent merchant bank Augusta & Co. elected renewable energy expert James Knight as a partner. He joined Augusta from Goldman, Sachs & Co. five years ago.

Also, Paolo Pascarelli joins as a managing director to work with financial sponsors and corporates across Europe and develop the advisory business in Italy. He was a senior director, capital markets at Royal Bank of Scotland plc. Previously, Pascarelli was a vice president in leveraged finance and sponsor coverage at Credit Suisse Group and worked for Deutsche Bank AG before that.

And Michael Johnson comes in as a managing director. He was head of BNP Paribas SA's London-based leveraged finance business.

Broadpoint Capital Inc. brought in Glen Capelo and Russell Certo as co-heads of its rates group. The group advises clients investing in treasuries, agencies and government guaranteed troubled asset relief program securities.

Capelo worked for RBS Greenwich Capital as a managing director on the U.S. government-agency trading desk. Prior to RBS, he spent 17 years at Salomon Brothers Inc. Certo was also a managing director at RBS. Earlier, he worked at UBS Warburg LLC as a director and head of the cross rates dealer group emphasizing agency, treasury and labor arbitrage.

Both will work with Craig Ziegler, who joined Broadpoint as an agency/treasury trader in March as part of Broadpoint's hiring of The Bank of New York fixed-income group.

Also joining the rates team are Joseph Walker and Steven Sharlach. Walker is an institutional salesperson and was previously assistant vice president of rates sales and trading/collateral financing at Fortis Bank. Sharlach worked at RBS on its treasury desk. Before that, he spent several years at Morgan Stanley in its tactical development group.

European midmarket private equity house Silverfleet Capital tapped Klaus Maurer as an executive in Munich. Maurer was an analyst at Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd.

Previously, he worked in leveraged finance at Société Générale and BHF-Bank.

Northern Trust Corp. added two lead relationship managers to its personal financial services team in New York, advising high-net-worth individuals and families.

Keith Ardizzone comes in after an 18-year career with U.S. Trust Corp., where he was managing director in the wealth management division.

John Voltaggio was also with U.S. Trust, where he was a managing director and head of financial planning for its multi-family office group.