And a bit more ...
<<WEST Merchant Bank, the London-based investment bank owned by
Germany's Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (WestLB), has become the
first big European casualty of the turmoil in financial markets.
The bank will effectively cease trading and all outstanding activities, which are
primarily in the emerging markets area, will be absorbed into its parent bank. A
new division will be established.
Chief executive Richard Briance, who joined in June 1997, is to leave by the end
of the year. He will be succeeded by Hans Keller. Many of the bank's 900 staff
are expected to lose their jobs, although a spokesman said efforts would be
made to redeploy them.
The announcement follows weeks of speculation about the future of West
Merchant Bank, which City bankers claimed had lost significant sums in
emerging markets.
One banker said: "We knew something would happen. It just did not have the
balance sheet to sustain the sort of losses being talked about. Most people
thought it would get an injection of capital but few imagined it would lose its
identity."
In July WestLB moved the management of all equity and corporate finance
activities, which includes stockbroker Panmure Gordon, to Dusseldorf,
effectively leaving West Merchant Bank as an emerging markets specialist.
The bank was formed nine years ago and, until last year, had been highly
successful. For six years it generated a return on equity in excess of 30pc and
attracted top bankers because of a lucrative bonus scheme that kicked in when
the return reached 15pc.>> |
