(Agencies) Britain's largest independent merchant bank, Close Brothers, has pulled out of a venture to set up a Gibraltar-based bank with Marrache & Co, the local firm at the centre of a multi-million pound fraud investigation. In a statement issued yesterday, the head of the bank's international division, Andrew Henton, confirmed that an application for a banking licence in Gibraltar had been withdrawn earlier in the month, adding, "We will not be making any comments on the circumstances." Plans for a Close & Marrache banking venture on the Rock had been in process for two years. The Marrache family had not had a banking licence since the start of WW2, according to The Gibraltar Chronicle, and the venture would have meant a return to that business. The Financial Services Commission withdrew Marrache's legal licenses when the firm was closed down by the RGP's Financial Unit earlier this month. (See related CP items by writing 'Marrache' in the search facility.)
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