Close Brothers, the independent UK merchant bank and the Gibraltar-based Marrache Group have announced their intention to establish a Gibraltar-based bank and an international wealth management firm, by way of a multiple licence submission to the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. It is intended that, subject to licence approval, the joint venture will trade from the early summer under the new brand Close & Marrache and will focus on providing tailored wealth management services to wealthy expatriate individuals and their families in Gibraltar, southern Spain and Portugal. Abraham Marrache said: “We have long wanted to re-establish a banking presence in Gibraltar and have now moved one step closer to realising that objective. The joint venture will create a first-class financial services business with an international orientation.” Chief executive of Close wealth management group Martin Andrew said: “The joint venture is a perfect strategic fit for Close, given our expertise and the services we currently provide to wealthy clients and our desire to grow in the region. A Gibraltar-based business complements our existing international operations in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and South Africa.” Separately, Close Brothers has announced interim results. In the first six months operating profit before tax was down overall 29 per cent at £69.8 million. In the asset management division profit was £18.0 million and funds under management were down 2 per cent on last year-end to £8.9 billion. And the bid for the Close Group from Cenkos Securities ground to a halt last Friday, even though, according to media sources, it had popular internal support. Analysts now predict that Winterflood Securities could be sold off or sold to management during the course of the year. However, in its strategic review, the Close board says that after considering all the options, it came to the clear conclusion “that it was in the best interests of all shareholders that Close Brothers should continue to grow and develop as a broadly based financial services group.”