Greenwich Capital: NatWest's out of town success story

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Greenwich Capital: NatWest's out of town success story

In the first of a series of articles examining the businesses of foreign banks in the US, Antony Currie looks at UK bank NatWest's investment banking and treasury operations. He starts with a day trip to Greenwich Capital, the fixed-income boutique bought in 1996 that has survived NatWest's investment-banking retrenchment and is now leading from the top. He then returns to New York, to a stellar performance from the treasury group, Global Financial Markets.

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Bob McGinnis seems content enough. But as the interview ends he stands up and airs his grievances. "The one thing this place needs," he says, practising his golf swing, "is windows that open."

He is dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, and is now looking out of the recalcitrant window at the lake and greenery. At this stage it becomes hard to take in that he's a senior vice-president and the man in charge of the consumer-finance business at Greenwich Capital.

But this is not New York but Greenwich, a town in Connecticut just minutes by train from mid-town Manhattan, and dress-down codes and pleasant views are de rigueur. The town has provided the name and location for the firm since it was first set up as a two-man partnership back in 1981 by William Rainer and Edwin Knetzger, who is now president of Greenwich Capital. Despite the influx of more and more financial firms to Greenwich in recent years - it is home to the infamous Long-Term Capital Management, for example - the town still retains the charm of a peaceful provincial centre; to wear a suit here is to invite attention.


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