Swiss bank in London loses in equities ahead of MiFID, Brexit

Mirabaud Securities, the brokerage and corporate finance arm of Swiss bank Mirabaud has lost staff from its London equities business.

Will Draper and Andrew Hogley have left. Draper was Mirabaud’s head of research and a telecoms analyst. Hogley was a senior researcher covering the telecoms sector. Patrick Mayhew, Mirabaud’s head of sales is also said to have moved into another role as part of a broader restructuring of the Swiss bank’s equities business.

A spokesman for Mirabaud declined to comment on the exits, but contrary to rumours told us the Swiss brokerage is not pulling out of European equities and is hiring in London.

The exits at Mirabaud come after the Swiss brokerage made a push into European equities after hiring Draper and Mayhew from Espirito Santo in July 2015. Draper’s disappearance (he’s rumoured to be joining BT’s investor relations team) and Mayhew’s internal move suggest those aspirations may be changing ahead of MiFID II and Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Under MiFID II, clients will have to pay separately for research. It’s expected that banks with top-ranked research teams will benefit as clients flock to high quality research, whereas those with lower ranked teams will suffer. After Brexit, Swiss banks may no longer be able to use London as a base from which to access clients in mainland Europe. Neither development would seem to favour a smallish Swiss brokerage with a presence in London.

Mirabaud isn’t the only overseas bank restructuring its London equities business: Chinese bank Haitong Securities cut around 50% of its equity research team in May after purchasing Espirito Santo’s investment bank a year earlier.

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