Yahoo Finance Bank rescue adviser quits Credit Suisse to launch start-up
An executive who advised ministers on the rescue of Britain's banking system during the 2008 financial crisis is leaving his employer to launch the latest in a string of firms founded by top City figures.
Sky News understands that Sebastian Grigg, a vice-chairman of Credit Suisse (LSE: 0QP5.L - news) 's investment bank and one of its most senior European employees, resigned late last week to strike out on his own.
Mr Grigg is understood to be planning to launch ESG Corporate Finance, an independent firm which will advise some of the UK's biggest companies on mergers, takeovers and capital-raising activity.
His exit from Credit Suisse, which is likely to be confirmed this week, will make Mr Grigg the latest to join the ranks of leading bankers to depart so-called "bulge-bracket" firms to focus on a smaller number of major clients.
That trend has accelerated in recent years amid a downturn in investment banking revenues at major employers in the City, on Wall Street and other global financial centres.
This weekend, Reuters reported that nearly one-third of Goldman's Asia-based dealmakers were being axed because of a slump in activity.
A number of investment bankers have nevertheless gone on to start phenomenally successful firms.
These have included Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw, who worked for Morgan Stanley (Xetra: 885836 - news) and UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) respectively, and whose eponymous start-up has advised on multibillion pound takeovers including the impending acquisition of the brewer SAB Miller by AB InBev.
Major corporate names are now using these so-called boutique advisers to spearhead work on big takeover deals, marking another shift away from the establishment of Wall Street and the City.
Mr Grigg's decision to leave Credit Suisse also comes at a time when the investment banking industry is trying to chart a course through the UK's exit from the European Union, with many thousands of jobs expected to relocate to the Continent depending on the outcome of efforts to protect the City's status.
Mr Grigg, a former Conservative parliamentary candidate and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) managing director, has worked for Credit Suisse for nine years, initially as its head of UK investment banking.
Among the key projects he worked on was advising the then Labour government on the bailout packages which saw taxpayers become major shareholders in Lloyds Banking Group (Other OTC: LLOBF - news) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) .
Of his colleagues on the 2008 bank rescue, James Leigh-Pemberton now chairs the body which manages the taxpayer's bank stakes, while Ewen Stevenson is now RBS's chief financial officer.
An Oxford contemporary of David Cameron, Mr Grigg also played a key role in helping Thomas Cook (Frankfurt: A0MR3W - news) stave off financial collapse in 2013, and advised some of Europe's leading media companies during his time at Goldman.
He also acted as a key advisor to Tidjane Thiam - now the chief executive of Credit Suisse - when Prudential (SES: K6S.SI - news) mounted an ill-fated attempt to buy AIA (HKSE: 1299-OL.HK - news) , the Asian insurance group, in 2010.
Mr Grigg, who could not be reached for comment on Sunday, is married to Rachel Kelly, a bestselling author.
Credit Suisse declined to comment.
