| London's Evening Standard newspaper broke the story. The latest in a long line of London-based merchant banks was to lose its independence to a large continental European commercial bank. But this one's assets didn't include anything like the butlers of Schroders or the fine art of Rothschild. In fact it was devoid of that sort of upper-crust City culture, having received its securities licence only 18 months earlier. What's more, it was best known for its activities in Russia, despite having nearly half its staff in London. So why all the fuss? The bank in question, MC Securities, might be a newcomer, but it has a promising pedigree p; it's the brainchild of Hans-Joerg Rudloff, formerly chairman and chief executive of Credit Suisse First Boston. The news was greeted with surprise, partly because MC Securities was supposedly the vehicle for the German-born Rudloff, apparently tired of commercial banks, to go it alone. Name change The new ownership agreement is with Banque Bruxelles Lambert (BBL) and, under it, Rudloff will ultimately answer to BBL, just as he once reported to Credit Suisse. "Yes this is correct," says Rudloff with a laugh. "I am an employee of BBL. |