The decision by Peter Meinertzhagen, chairman of ABN Amro Hoare Govett, to retire from the City almost 20 years to the day after its transformation by the Big Bang, is full of symbolism.

He leaves behind a career in corporate broking that witnessed London's metamorphosis from a business run largely by British men and institutions to one dominated by US and continental banks with few representatives of the grandee families that Mr Meinertzhagen acts for.