Britain first lost its seat at the top table of investment banking on January 9, 1995. That was the day SG Warburg announced the closure of its international bond activities to focus on equity, advisory and UK debt.
It was a stunning retreat, ending the global ambitions of what was then the UK’s premier investment bank. Staff left and clients questioned Warburg’s commitment. The bank soon fell into the arms of Swiss Banking Corporation for a knockdown price.
Doubts about UK investment banks intensified six weeks after Warburg’s retreat, when Nick Leeson’s illegal trading felled Barings, one of London’s oldest financial institutions. The rest of the 1990s saw a string of British banks sold to foreign firms.
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