Commerzbank yesterday revealed it was selling Kleinwort Benson to RHJ International for £225m.

The sale to RHJI, the Brussels-listed investment group that failed in its bid to buy GM's European car unit Opel last month, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2010, subject to approval by regulators.

Robert Taylor, Kleinwort Benson's chief executive, said: "We're going to be an independent brand and going to be able to manage our future." Kleinwort Benson opened a Leeds office, which has four staff, in January 2008 as part of a strategy to increase its operations outside London.

Mr Taylor said: "The Leeds operation is crucial to us. We have got a fantastic team of guys up there. It appears that that (Yorkshire) market has been less affected by the downturn than other operations.

"There's a feeling that Yorkshire has a slightly broader economy than other parts of the country. In Leeds, there's a big financial services community. That's key to growing the private wealth business. In Leeds, and to the north east of Leeds, there are high levels of A1s (wealthy people) with high levels of disposable income."

Jonathan Marsden, a member of Kleinwort Benson's team in Leeds, said there had been no shortage of potential clients, although many business owners feared 2010 could be a tough year. "Nobody is getting carried away,'' he said.

Kleinwort Benson, a unit of Dresdner Bank that Commerzbank bought this year, specialises in wealth management in Britain.

The European Commission demanded the sale of Kleinwort Benson as a condition for approving aid to Commerzbank from German bank rescue fund Soffin. Soffin has granted 18.2 billion euros (£16.7bn) worth of assistance to the lender, which was hit by the financial crisis and its takeover of Dresdner Bank.

Commerzbank said its investment banking business remained unaffected by the transaction. It has also sold wealth management operations in Belgium and Switzerland.

"RHJI plans to adopt Kleinwort Benson as an overarching brand for its financial services businesses going forward," RHJI chief executive Leonhard Fischer, a former Dresdner Bank executive, said in a statement.

Mr Taylor said the Kleinwort Benson management team had sought a parent committed to private banking and wealth management for the longer term.

He added: "We were delighted in the potential RHJI saw for further growth in our core businesses in both the UK and the Channel Islands at the earliest stages of our discussions.

"We are very pleased to have been acquired by a group whose leadership team has longstanding links with Kleinwort Benson. We look forward to working with our new owners to continue to grow our private banking business, about which we are passionate."

Although there were more positive signs from the US market, the global economy was not out of the woods yet, Mr Taylor added.