Andrew Pisker, London-based chief executive of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein for the past three years, is to quit the bank amid a shake up which will see DrKW folded into the corporate banking division of Dresdner Bank. Stefan Jentzsch, who left HVB this month, will head the new division based in Frankfurt.

Herbert Walter, chairman of Dresdner Bank and Michael Diekmann, chief executive of Dresdner, Allianz, said in a statement: "Andrew was responsible for a significant turnaround in the fortunes of DrKW...we would like to thank him for his tremendous contribution. We wish him every success in the future."