David Robins and Malcolm Le May, Respectively chief executive, and global head of corporate and institutional finance, ING Barings

The appointment of David Robins and Malcolm Le May as respectively chief executive and head of global corporate finance at ING Barings reunites the two former UBS management partners whose high profile should go some way to reassuring insiders and clients about their new employer's commitment to investment banking.

According to ING Barings' chairman (and acting CEO) Marinus Minderhoud, Robins has been given a "full mandate to further develop and strengthen our global corporate and investment banking business". Observers say the two appear to have been given firmer control over the bank than Robins's predecessor, Arjun Mathrani, who resigned in May following a dispute over the bank's European strategy.

Following a successful three-year stint as UBS's chief operating officer in Europe, Robins had found himself dismantling much of his own handiwork following the merger with SBC Warburg last December.

With management responsibility for the new integrated investment banking division, Warburg...