The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Nov. 25, linked where possible to personal profiles on LinkedIn. To inform us of other job changes, please e-mail moves@thomsonreuters.com.

STANDARD CHARTERED PLC

UK-based lender Standard Chartered Plc appointed Ebenezer Essoka as chief executive officer of its operations in South Africa. Cameroon-born Essoka, currently CEO of Standard Chartered’s west African business, will succeed Chris Low with immediate effect.

NOMURA HOLDINGS INC

Nomura today said it has appointed David Bizer as Head of Global Markets Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa, effective immediately. Prior to his appointment, Bizer was head of fixed income sales for the same region at Lehman Brothers.

UBS

UBS Global Asset Management (Japan) Ltd appointed Susumu Okamura as president and representative director, effective immediately. Okamura was most recently head of the institutional marketing and products for UBS Global Asset Management (Japan).

PLUS MARKETS GROUP

PLUS Markets Group appointed Rachel Maguire as its new head of strategic development and marketing. Maguire was earlier with RiskMetrics Group, where she was international head of governance account management.

COLLINS STEWART FUND MANAGEMENT

Collins Stewart Fund Management, the unit of Collins Stewart Wealth Management, appointed Collette Wisener-Keating to head product development. Keating will be responsible for fund development, fund registration in new markets and fund operations.

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA

RBC Wealth Management appointed Brenda Vince as head of Wealth Management Strategy, effective February 1, 2009. Vince is currently president of RBC Asset Management and will be replaced by Doug Coulter. Canada’s biggest bank also appointed Damon Williams as president of investment management unit Phillips Hager & North, in addition to an expansion of his current role as head of Institutional Management for PH&N.

LIBERTY MUTUAL

The insurance group said David H. Long, 47, will succeed Thomas C. Ramey, 65, as chairman and president of Liberty International. Long is currently president of the company’s commercial insurance business unit. J. Paul Condrin, 47, currently president for personal lines, will take over as president of commercial lines; and Timothy M. Sweeney, 43, now executive vice president of distribution for personal lines, will become that unit’s president. The changes will become effective January 1, 2009, but Ramey will remain as chairman until mid 2009.

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS

Charles G. Goldman was appointed president of Institutional Platforms for Fidelity Institutional Products Group. Goldman, a former executive vice president and head of Schwab Institutional, will join the firm in early 2009 and report to Michael K. Clark, president of Fidelity Institutional Products Group.

SOLEIL SECURITIES

Soleil Securities Corp, a provider of equity research and brokerage services, added three new analysts to its platform. Harry Fong, most recently a senior analyst at Calyon Securities, will cover the insurance industry. In addition, Kit Konolige, who has covered global electric utilities for First Boston and Morgan Stanley, will follow large-cap utilities. Manoj Garg will be covering healthcare companies within the pharmaceuticals, biotech, and life sciences groups.

There’s no question Wall Street is undergoing a transformation of sorts with the recent rash of job losses and do-or-die consolidations. But once the dust has settled - what then?

It just may be the start of Wall Street’s warm and fuzzy rebirth, Forbes reports.

“The new Wall Street will be, in some ways, a friendlier place,” writes Michael Maiello. “Investors are no longer interested in secretive hedge fund managers and inscrutable quant trading strategies, and so personal relationships and personal responsibility on the part of financial advisers will be paramount virtues.”

But this supposed new Wall Street — where banks both big and small can flourish, where the personal touch is paramount — has a lot of skeptics to win over. Just today, Fidelity Investments said it was reviewing its staffing amid speculation of 4,000 layoffs. Meanwhile, reports that battered banks have set aside an estimated $20 billion for bonuses is surely confounding news for the thousands of newly-axed bankers left in their wake. What’s more, a new survey shows that most financial professionals aren’t just hoping for a bonus, they’re expecting it.

Is Wall Street capable of making a positive change, or is it headed for more of the same? Share your thoughts with us below.