Rival Rothschild branches face court battle over family name

More than two centuries after the first Rothschild made his fortune in European banking, two branches of the dynasty are set to do battle in the French courts - over the family name.

Edmond de Rothschild Group, a Franco-Swiss private bank and asset manager, is about to issue a cease-and-desist order to the French financial adviser Rothschild & Cie, insiders have disclosed.

The Swiss-based group says the parent company of the French business unfairly refers to itself as "parent of the Rothschild group" - implying that they have sole claim to the banking dynasty name.

"No entity has the right to lay sole claim to the Rothschild name," said a person close to Edmond de Rothschild Group.

Rothschild & Cie's parent company, Paris-Orleans, declined to comment but a person familiar with the situation said it had not received any documents relating to the case and remained "extremely relaxed" about any challenge.

News of the impending cease-and-desist order reflects an escalation of hostilities between two sides of the family, and represents one of the first acts of Ariane de Rothschild, who took over as chief executive of Edmond de Rothschild at the end of January.

Almost three years ago, Lord David de Rothschild brought together the French and British arms of the two centuries old banking dynasty, under the Paris Orleans parent group.

This put Rothschild & Cie of France and NM Rothschild of the UK into a unified structure, ending years of cross-Channel rivalry between the pair.

But there remain offshoots of the Rothschild dynasty outside the unified group - the biggest of which is Edmond de Rothschild Group, which owns almost 8 per cent of Paris-Orleans.

Tensions re-emerged between the two sides at the end of 2013, when Paris-Orleans was forced to take a €22m writedown of its 8 per cent stake in Edmond de Rothschild Group.

At the time, Benjamin de Rothschild - who is chairman of Edmond de Rothschild Group, and whose family owns the entire business - spoke out publicly, saying he feared that Rothschild & Cie might be sold one day, along with the family name.

But a person close to Paris-Orleans said the group always had a "family and professional spirit".

The name disagreement is only the latest spat between the various branches the family.

About 35 years ago, Lord Jacob Rothschild split from the main UK branch of the family and went on to create RIT, his own investment trust. In 2013, he aligned himself with Edmond de Rothschild by signing a partnership between RIT and the Franco-Swiss bank.

Additional reporting by Martin Arnold

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