Rothschild & Co will sell its wealth planning and trust services business to one of the unit's senior executives, Richard Martin, who has the backing of an unnamed investor.

The firm said the decision was "strategic" and "in line with Rothschild & Co’s strategic decision to focus on its core wealth management and private banking business".

However the management buyout comes just a few months after the trust unit was sanctioned by Swiss regulator FINMA, over its dealings with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. FINMA found Rothschild's trust unit seriously breached anti-money laundering r...