Joseph Perella confirmed his legendary status last week by clinching a personal mandate to advise MBNA, the US credit card company, on its $35bn acquisition by Bank of America, while his former employer, Morgan Stanley, was nowhere on the deal.

Another surprise name on the deal was Keefe Bruyette & Woods as sole adviser to Bank of America. The US bank has not used the broker before, traditionally using its own M&A people on big deals along with Goldman Sachs for external advice.