Russian broker Otkritie Capital, one of the leading protagonists in the growing battle to control order flow between London and Moscow, has begun to fill the gap left by the mass defection of staff to a rival firm in May.

The broker has hired Ben Wood as head of international DMA based in its London arm, Otkritie Securities, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Wood was most recently head of European equities sales at broker, Flextrade.