CANTOR FITZGERALD, the US broker, has reignited one of the longest feuds in finance by hiring 17 brokers and the head of Asian operations from Icap, its UK rival.

The companies have clashed several times in court over allegations that they poached each other’s staff, while Icap is still contesting a suit in the US brought by Cantor over alleged patent infringement.

Cantor had to pay Icap £1.1 million in damages after a court found it guilty of poaching when it hired staff from the UK rival in 1993.

A High Court judge ruled in 2002 that Icap had illegally hired one of Cantor’s brokers but rejected a claim by the New York company that Icap had poached another two. The firms appealed and reached a settlement a year later.

Cantor, which lost 658 employees in the September 11 attacks, is said to be offering as much as £200,000 to new staff at the office in Sydney it is establishing for BGC, its money market broking arm.

Mark Webster, Icap’s former head of Asia, is the most senior employee from Icap to join Cantor. Last week Icap’s entire 14-man futures team in Sydney walked out while three more brokers have quit.

A spokeswoman for BGC said: “At the time of BGC’s spin-off from Cantor Fitzgerald in October 2004, we outlined our commitment to international expansion involving hiring hundreds of new people over the coming years. We have embarked on a straightforward strategy of attracting and retaining top people and treating them well in order to provide a superior service to the dealer community.” She declined to comment on the amount BGC is offering to new staff.

Michael Spencer, Icap’s chief executive, made no comment. Icap is contesting a suit by Collins Stewart Tullett over the defection in October of 27 brokers in Hong Kong and Singapore.

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