ABN Amro Craigs has unveiled its new moniker – the company will be known as Craigs Investment Partners from August 31.

The name change has been expected since Craigs’ staff bought out the 50% stake in the firm that was previously held by ABN Amro, which was in turn owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Craigs Investment Partners has been in the industry under various names for 25 years.

It is now a fully staff-owned business, with 160 employee shareholders.

The new name is similar to the company’s original badge, Craig & Co.

Vector has appointed ABN Amro Craigs executive director James Miller to its board.

Mr Miller is head of institutional equities for the broking firm and has a long history of involvement in the energy industry.

The appointment signals his first foray into the corporate governance of large listed companies.

It’s a timely move – the current climate means some boards are being criticised for a lack of corporate finance expertise, which can lead to the wrong decisions being made on crucial decisions like capital structure.

In an exclusive report in this morning’s print edition of The National Business Review , chief executive Frank Aldridge confirmed ABN Amro Craigs was successful in buying back the 50% stake in the company previously held by embattled Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

According to the report the sale price was a paltry $3.5 million plus $400,000 for plant, property and equipment.

Mr Aldridge wouldn’t comment on the price, only saying: “we are very comfortable with the transaction.”

Investment bank ABN Amro has confirmed that, as revealed in NBR’s print edition today, its owner Royal Bank of Scotland is exiting its New Zealand business.

ABN Amro will close, leaving 60 people out of a job, while management at its associated retail broking firm, ABN Amro Craigs, will buy the 50% of the company that they don’t own.

NBR understands some of the ex ABN Amro staff will be hired by Craigs as that business plans to enter the wholesale equities and debt capital market space.

Investment bank ABN Amro and New Zealand’s biggest retail investment advisory network ABN Amro Craigs could soon be ringfenced into a “bad bank,” put up for sale and forced to cut jobs.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns half of ABN Amro Craigs and all of ABN Amro in New Zealand, is expected to announce a radical restructure tonight (NZ time) that could result in the loss of 20,000 jobs worldwide.

Market troughs and credit crunches are a headache for most investors but for private equity operators they create exciting times.

So, while it might seem like a difficult task to be raising money now, local private equity firm Direct Capital said the launch of its new fund was "very much pro-cycle."

The firm aims to raise $250 million over the next few months, including $60-120 million from retail investors via its second Pohutukawa fund run with ABN Amro Craigs.