The trio of men at the top of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s mergers and acquisitions business have very different backgrounds. However, the three are united by a common goal: to take the top spot. In everything.

Philip Noblet, chairman of M&A for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is from the old school of British banking. Having studied law at Cambridge University, he worked at Deutsche Bank and Slaughter and May before joining Merrill Lynch in 2000.