Rothschilds to merge British and French banking operations to secure control

The 200-year-old banks will be reunited under a single shareholding that will bring together the fortunes of the French and English sides of the renowned family as they attempt to safeguard the business against the effects of new regulation and the fallout from the global financial crisis.

Paris Orleans, the Rothschild Group’s Paris-based holding company, will convert into a French limited partnership, securing the families’ control of the bank against potential takeovers. The new partnership will then buy out minority investors in NM Rothschild & Sons, the UK business, as well as outstanding minority interests in the French operations.

David de Rothschild will become chairman of the partnership and said the new structure would help the bank “better meet the requirements of globalisation in general and in our competitive environment in particular, while ensuring my family’s control over the long term”.

Mr de Rothschild is a descendant of Baron James de Rothschild, who established the family’s Paris-based bank 200 years ago.

Changing the ownership structure is aimed at helping Rothschild meet the Basel III capital standards that will require banks to maintain a minimum core capital ratio of 7pc. Rothschild said its regulatory capital would be “significantly enhanced” through the merger.