Gleacher, the independent advisory boutique, has taken a big step to strengthen its European business with the appointment of Justin Dowley, the former co-head of European investment banking at Merrill Lynch.

Gleacher has also appointed Michael Pescod, a lawyer at Slaughter & May, as a partner. Dowley resigned from Merrill earlier this year in a surprise departure and soon afterwards became a non-executive director of Bridgewell Corporate Finance.