MFK Bank, the Moscow-headquartered firm that focuses on serving high net worth individuals, has acquired a 100 per cent stake in the asset manager Stolichnaya Financial Corporation, Vedomosti reports.

According to the publication, the bank, which belongs to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, moved to make the acquisition just a month after it entered a partnership with Fleming Family & Partners, the Moscow-based subsidiary of the London-headquartered multi-family office.

Rustam Iseev, general director of FF&P in Russia, reportedly said that the firm is aware of the acquisition and does not treat it as a potential threat to the partnership.

Oksana Lifar, deputy chairman at MFK Bank, is reported to have said that an external asset manager is preferable to an affiliated one due to the absence of a conflict of interests.

The report also cites an unnamed manager at MFK Bank, who reportedly said that a full scale partnership with FF&P will continue while the newly-acquired asset manager is being transitioned to its new owner. After that, FF&P will be offering deals to MFK clients with foreign assets, while the bank’s own asset manager will deal with Russian assets.