Revolut Chairman Among Consortium to Buy Monaco Private Bank

(Bloomberg) -- Revolut Ltd. chairman Martin Gilbert is part of a group in talks to buy the Monaco-based arm of Banque Havilland SA, which last month lost its license over concerns about its internal controls.

The private bank has entered into exclusive negotiations with Gilbert, the former chief executive officer of asset manager Abrdn Plc, and other investors including motor racing entrepreneur Eddie Jordan and former Abrdn executive Ivan Murphy, to sell its Monaco business, according to a statement from the Luxembourg-based company.

Murphy said the buyers wanted to “restore the trust” of the bank’s clients and staff. “We are excited to work with the existing team to close this transaction and move forward to build a strong traditional independent private bank in Monaco,” he said in the bank’s statement.

Gilbert and Murphy knew each other in their days at Abrdn, and the latter has spent several months talking to Banque Havilland, he said by phone. “We’re not going to be competing with the likes of UBS. That’s a completely different business,” he added.

The European Central Bank stripped Banque Havilland of its license in August, ending a 15-year saga that saw the bank hit with fines for money laundering failings and an alleged attempt to destabilize the economy of Qatar.

Banque Havilland is controlled by the family of David Rowland, a millionaire businessman and UK Conservative Party donor. The Rowlands are close friends of disgraced British royal Prince Andrew and the bank could once call upon him to act as an unofficial door-opener to the world’s financial elite, Bloomberg has reported.

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