Rothschild braces for more ‘skeletons in the cupboard’ over conduct of late chair
Senior bankers at Rothschild & Co gathered on Tuesday in a meeting room at its St Swithin’s Lane headquarters in the heart of the City of London to discuss a memo that would shake the storied financial group to its foundations,The memo, to be sent to staff on Wednesday morning, would admit for the first time that their celebrated former leader, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, had left the bank in 2004 after an allegation of sexual misconduct,There would be “more to come”, one person at the meeting said, shaking their head,Without question, there are “skeletons in every cupboard”, they said, as others expressed concerns that this could be the start of a wave of allegations putting the bank and its former chair in the spotlight,The attender was right to be worried.
The Guardian was the first to detail allegations against De Rothschild, a former financial adviser to Queen Elizabeth II; since then other allegations have emerged – and some staff at the bank fear more will come to light.A world-famous bank, which prides itself on discretion for its monied clientele, is now facing the prospect of seeing its workplace culture being scrutinised in public.One attender at that crisis meeting suggested giving the predicament, and the way it intends to handle it, a code name.This was dismissed, in case the name itself was leaked to journalists and added grist to the media’s mill.Lawyers acting for Rothschild said this did not accurately reflect the conversations of the team handling this situation.
The memo, which shocked many staff at the bank but came as little surprise to others, tried to suggest that there was only ever one allegation made about De Rothschild.This was one dated to 2003, which came shortly before his departure.“Some of you may be aware of an article that was published by the Guardian yesterday,” staff were told.“We are naturally appalled by any allegation of conduct that is so at odds with the culture we strive to foster within the group, even if it was several decades ago.No colleague should be subjected to inappropriate sexual behaviour.
”Staff were told about this only after the Guardian revealed allegations of sexual misconduct related to De Rothschild that multiple sources said took place in the mid to late 1990s,That it followed a news report, rather than being proactively shared with staff, caused some disquiet,A search of internal records had found no allegations from the 1990s, the memo said,There was, however, a complaint from 2003 that the bank must have known about – but its lawyers failed to mention to the Guardian despite being asked about the existence of other complaints,“We discovered a single complaint of sexual misconduct in late 2003.
This case was investigated immediately, dealt with appropriately, with full support for the colleague concerned, and led to Sir Evelyn de Rothschild leaving the group in March 2004,” the memo read.“We have found no record of any other complaint relating to Sir Evelyn.We do not tolerate and will never tolerate behaviour of this nature at the company.We work hard to create an environment in which all can thrive, and we encourage the highest standards of professionalism.”The memo did not go into detail on the 2003 incident.
However, sources claim it involved De Rothschild exposing himself to a member of staff in his office,It is alleged he had suggested a sexual act to her and the woman ran out of the room, with her distress apparent to several witnesses,This incident bore similarities to some of the 1990s allegations first reported by this newspaper: they included claims the celebrated financier used his office within NM Rothschild, a stone’s throw from the Bank of England, to force himself upon women over several years,The 1990s claims include serious sexual assaults,One involved an alleged violent assault of a member of staff when she was a young woman working for him.
Another allegation is that he put his hands down a different woman’s top and under her underwear to grope her.And a third woman claimed she was forced to perform a sex act on him while he sat on his desk.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionOther sources maintained that these were not the only allegations, and that other incidents spanned decades – a point made clear to Rothschild & Co’s lawyers in correspondence, and upon which they have yet to comment.On Thursday came fresh allegations: that in 2019, two women reported De Rothschild to the police for sexual assault, with one alleging that he orally raped her at his country estate several years after he left the bank, according to a report from Bloomberg.For Rothschild & Co, the mushrooming allegations pose grave questions about its culture and the power that was wielded by its former boss.
De Rothschild was chair of NM Rothschild for almost three decades and also served on the boards of the Economist and the parent company of the Daily Telegraph,A scion of one of the most famous dynasties in global banking, he spent 44 years working within Rothschild family businesses,So powerful was the banking group and the figure of De Rothschild that sources told the Guardian that – even speaking anonymously – they felt safe to share their accounts only two years after his death,The Rothschild group, which combines an array of financial services including investment banking and wealth management, was at the heart of the UK’s privatisation wave in the 1980s and is among the most prominent investment banks,Its London arm, NM Rothschild & Sons, was founded in 1809 by Nathan Mayer Rothschild, close to the Bank of England.
Such was the sharp rise of its merchant banking activities that by 1826 it effectively saved the UK’s central bank with a loan of gold.Generations of the family’s successes are documented in objets d’art and display cabinets at its St Swithin’s Lane headquarters: the New Court Vitrine.Insiders describe it as a sort of shrine to the Rothschild dynasty.NM Rothschild & Sons later merged with another arm of the family’s European banking empire, Paris Orléans SA, and in 2011 the company rebranded from NM Rothschild & Sons to Rothschild & Co.In 2015, the parent company of the Rothschild Group, which was previously called Paris Orléans, also changed its name to Rothschild & Co, according to the Rothschild Archive.
The allegations raise questions about how De Rothschild, a member of one of the world’s most famous and powerful families, a banker-adviser to Queen Elizabeth, and whose eulogy was delivered by former US president Bill Clinton, could have hidden so many claims from public view.Lawyers acting for Rothschild & Co said that the Guardian’s sources’ characterisation of the 2003 complaint was inaccurate and said they had not been aware of any other claims related to De Rothschild’s employment at the banking group.
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