Two branches of the Rothschild banking dynasty have settled a dispute over the use of the family name, one of the most storied in European finance.
Rothschild & Co and Edmond de Rothschild announced on Friday that they have reached an agreement that will also see them unwind cross-shareholdings in each other.
Under the deal, the groups cannot use the name Rothschild by itself in branding.
Edmond de Rothschild, a Franco-Swiss private bank and asset manager, will continue to develop its business under the Edmond de Rothschild brand.
Rothschild & Co, the Franco-British investment bank, will use the Rothschild & Co name. Rothschild & Co’s private banking and asset management activities in France, Belgium and Monaco will use the name Martin Maurel.
The agreement on Friday comes as Rothschild & Co is undergoing a generational change in leadership. Last month Alexandre de Rothschild took over as chairman from his father David de Rothschild, becoming the seventh generation of the family to lead the bank.
In 2012 the elder Mr de Rothschild oversaw a merger of the then separate France and UK banks, which unified its corporate structure under the Paris Orléans parent group and ended years of cross-Channel rivalry between the pair.
Under the deal between the family branches, the cross-shareholdings to be unwound mainly includes the 8.4 per cent stake in Edmond de Rothschild held by Rothschild & Co’s Swiss holding company; the 9.5 per cent of the capital of Rothschild & Co’s Swiss holding company held by Edmond de Rothschild and a 5.7 per cent stake in Rothschild & Co held by Edmond de Rothschild.
After legal action was instigated in 2012 by the Edmond de Rothschild Group, there were further tensions at the end of 2013 when Paris-Orléans was forced to take a €22m writedown of its 8 per cent stake in Edmond de Rothschild Group.
At the time, Benjamin de Rothschild — who is chairman of Edmond de Rothschild Group — spoke out publicly, saying he feared that Rothschild & Cie might be sold one day, along with the family name.
