Ben King
BBC News business reporter
Getty Images
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, pictured in 2016, left the bank which bears his family name in 2003
The famous financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild left the bank which bears his family name after an investigation into sexual misconduct in 2003, it has emerged.
De Rothschild, who died two years ago, was a leading figure in British banking, and financial adviser to Queen Elizabeth.
The details were published in an internal memo circulated in response to a Guardian article accusing him of sexual assault and harassment against women working in the bank in the 1990s.
The memo said it found “no evidence” to support those allegations.
A spokesman for the bank said it “does not tolerate and never will tolerate behaviour of this nature.”
The memo, first published by the Daily Telegraph, said: “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.”
“We have found no record of any other complaint relating to Sir Evelyn,” the memo added.
The Guardian report said that at least eight sources had alleged that Sir Evelyn used his position at the bank to abuse women who worked with him.
The women felt unable to raise their concerns at the time because of Sir Evelyn’s position at the bank and in society, the article said.
As well as his role advising the Queen, Sir Evelyn occupied a prominent position in British life, and was chairman of the Economist and on the board of the company which owned the Daily Telegraph.
He spent more than 40 years at the family firm, including 28 years as chair of NM Rothschild, the group’s UK-based investment bank.
He was knighted in 1989.
