Moelis gets full FSA licence
INVESTMENT banking group Moelis has cemented its ambition of conquering the European market after receiving its full licence from the Financial Services Authority.
Moelis, which has been actively poaching some of the stars of the UK market in recent months since setting up in the UK around 18 months ago, has until now been “incubated” by Sturgeon Ventures, which specialises in supporting financial services start-ups.
It is now fully independently authorised by the regulator.
Moelis, a purely advisory firm along the lines of Lazard and Rothschild, was set up in the US before the crisis by Ken Moelis, a former president of UBS Investment Bank on Wall Street.
It has since built up a strong presence in the UK with the appointment of Mark Aedy, the ex-head of EMEA investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as head of its own operations in the region, driving large-scale business wins such as advising Dubai World on its restructuring plans.
It has also taken on Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s former vice chairman of EMEA investment banking Caroline Silver and just last month poached Stephen Aulsebrook, the ex-chief executive of DC Advisory Partners (formerly Close Brothers Corporate Finance), as a managing director.