The former head of European investment banking at Goldman Sachs, who worked on deals worth more than $300bn during his 24 years at the bank and was named global co-head of mergers and acquisitions almost exactly a year ago, is to retire from the Wall Street giant.

Yoël Zaoui was named co-head of global mergers and acquisitions in mid-May last year alongside Gene Sykes, having previously headed European investment banking for six years.