Eighteen years after a landmark Geneva merger, two of Geneva's oldest banking dynasties are still duking it out in Swiss court.
Carl Hentsch and Henri Hentsch, members of the eighth generation of the eponymous banking family, suffered a setback in an eight-year-old dispute with Lombard Odier, Swiss investigative portal «Gotham City» (behind paywall, in French) reported, citing a Swiss arbitration tribunal.
The Hentsch brothers want either representation or one-quarter of the former Hentsch & Cie, which traces its roots to the late 18th century. Hentsch & Cie, later Darier Hentsch, was one of the banks which form modern-day Lombard Odier. The case was heard despite the death of Carl Hentsch last year.
Dissolved In Merger
The brothers wanted to extend their claim to current and recent partners of Lombard Odier like Patrick Odier. They had argued that a family letter written in 1982 – before Hentsch & Cie dissolved in a series of mergers – ensured them the right to work in the family firm Hentsch & Cie.
Hentsch merged with Darier in 1991; neither brother was named a partner of the combined entity, Darier Hentsch. That bank reinvented itself yet again when in 2002 it joined up with Lombard Odier.
Hentsch Named Disappears
Last month, the Swiss court restricted the now elderly brothers' claim to partners of Hentsch at the time – which effectively kills their case. Lombard Odier dropped «Darier Hentsch» from its name in 2009.
A spokesman for Lombard Odier told finews.com that its partners – Patrick Odier, Hubert Keller, Frédéric Rochat, Annika Falkengren, Alexandre Zeller, and Denis Pittet – are not affected by the arbitration. «It affects solely former partners of Bank Hentsch & Cie, which ceased to exist more than three decades ago.»
