Russian broker Otkritie Capital has suffered a series of defections to rival firm BrokerCreditServices in recent weeks, Financial News has learned, in a sign of the intensifying battle to control order flow between London and Moscow.

Nils Jahn, head of global electronic trading; Tim Bevan, a director for global electronic trading; Luis Saenz, chief executive for New York; Michael Barmettler, a managing director; and Mark Cleary, a vice president in equity sales trading, have all left Otkritie Capital in recent weeks, according to sources familiar with the situation.