Angus Taylor, the managing director of Kleinwort Benson in Jersey

KLEINWORT Benson, the UK and Channel Islands wealth management group, is to be sold and could be the object of a management buyout.

Robert Taylor, the UK-based chief executive of Kleinwort Benson, and his management team are understood to be examining a private-equity-backed buyout of the business as well as a trade sale. Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Taylor said: ‘All options are being explored.’

However, the group has two and a half years during which it can prepare for new ownership, and its parent company, Commerzbank Group, has promised that there will be no ‘fire sale’.

Plans for change of ownership stem from a European Commission ruling following the German government’s injection of cash into Commerzbank.

Finding a suitable buyer is high on the agenda, but Angus Taylor, the managing director of Kleinwort Benson in Jersey, says that the immediate priority is to continue delivering a high level of wealth management and fund administration services to clients.