Take Your Partners

Marking the 30th anniversary of the formation of Orion Bank in 1970, financial historian Richard Roberts has written a history of Orion and the rise and decline of the consortium banking movement. Consortium banks were formed as joint ventures to enable banks to operate in the booming Euromarkets, with virtually every major international bank participating in a consortium bank during their heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. Orion Bank was one of the leading players in the Euromarkets in those decades: its shareholders were six of the biggest banks in the world from the three major trading blocks: Chase Manhattan, Royal Bank of Canada, NatWest, Westdeutsche Landesbank, Credito Italiano and Mitsubishi Bank. Like other consortiums banks, Orion Bank was prominent in Eurocurrency syndicated lending, but more unusually, it was also a top Eurobond lead manager. The story of Orion exemplifies the tensions inherent in the joint venture approach to business development and the strategic dilemmas facing consortium bank managements and shareholders. Richard Roberts uses primary archival papers and interviews with former Orion executives and other bankers prominent in consortium and investment banking to present an authoritative case study with great topical relevance as today's European banking industry continues to integrate across borders. Take Your Partners is also an invaluable source of reference for anyone with an interest in the Euromarkets and the development of international banking.

'In today's consolidating world, the history of Orion is an excellent reminder of the importance of individual talent and enterprise in driving innovation, growth and change. - George W. Mallinckrodt KBE, President, Schroders plc

'...the story of Orion and of consortium banking more broadly stands as a fascinating account of a period of innovation, growth and periodically of crisis, in the international financial markets.' - The Right Honourable Sir Edward George, Governor of the Bank of England

'The post-war renaissance of the City of London as a world-class financial centre came with the development of the Euro-dollar market and then with the growth of the Euromarkets more generally. This was the context which saw the birth of the very complex consortium banks of the 1970s, of which Orion was the undoubted leader. But in a rapidly evolving financial scene, they shone brightly for a time and then faded from the scene. Indeed, David Montagu, Orion's Chairman during its heyday, was not only one of the first to see the potential of consortium banks, but also one of the first to recognise that their time had passed. This book is an excellent case study of a fascinating chapter in the constant evolution of the City of London and of the financial markets more generally.' - The Right Honourable Lord Lawson of Blaby PC; formerly Chancellor of the Exchequer

'Take Your Partners is required reading for anyone interested in recent financial and economichistory. Taking Orion and the other consortium banks as their vantage point, Richard Roberts and Christopher Arnander have captured the romance, drama and detail of an era of dynamic innovation in the development of international financial markets. The global markets of today owe their existence in large part to the individuals and banking houses described in this book. Technology and institutional consolidation have largely automated these markets as well as altering the competitive climate. This book tells the remarkable story of an institution, its peers, its people and its environment. It reminds us of just how exciting were those pioneering days.' - Stanislas M. Yassukovich, Chairman of European Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation; formerly Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of the European Banking Company

'[This book] achieves a difficult balance: capturing the history of a unique institution that attracted some of the most talented people, yet disappeared to leave nothing but memories, and setting its rise and fall against the background of that equally strange monster - the Euromarkets. This is one of the best written and most accurate accounts of international banking politics that I've seen. Every student of international finance should read it.' - Padraic Fallon, Chairman, Euromoney Institutional Investor plc

'Comprehensive, perceptive, instructive and entertaining, Take Your Partners will be a valuable work of reference forthose interested in banking history.' - Leopold de Rothschild, Director, NM Rothschild & Sons, formerly Chairman of Rothschild Intercontinental Bank

'No simple banking history, this is a wide-ranging and skilfully woven economic and business history of the rise and eventual eclipse of a particular type of international consortium banking.' - Roger Middleton, University of Bristol, Business History

'A marvellous read, rich in anecdote and full of colourful characters.' -

David Lascelles, The Banker

'Take Your Partners will make an excellent text-book for any course in international finance, providing a case study illustrating some deep and recurrent themes. The book is...lucidly written and divided by cross-headings into sections of about a page in length, making it a relatively easy and certainly a rewarding read.' - Sir Kit McMahon, The Financial Times

RICHARD ROBERTS is Reader in Business History in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Sussex. He is a specialist in the development of international finance and financial institutions. He graduated with First Class honours from University College London, and received his doctorate from Cambridge University. he has held fellowships at Downing College, Cambridge, and Princeton University and also worked for British Petroleum. He is the author of several books on banks and banking including Schroders: Merchants and Bankers published by Macmillan, 1992.