Few, if any, banking brands have enjoyed the same kind of afterlife as SG Warburg. Nineteen years after being bought by Swiss Bank Corporation, 17 years after being subsumed into UBS and more than 10 years after being finally consigned to the history books, the fabled Warburg name still crops up regularly in speculation about the Swiss bank.

In a note sent to clients last month, Chris Wheeler, an analyst at Mediobanca, posited that UBS might be "dusting off plans, we are sure they have, for disposing of the investment bank" and may consider reviving the SG Warburg brand.