Romain Etienne, an executive director on Morgan Stanley’s investment-grade bond syndicate desk, died last week. He was 36.
Etienne, who was responsible for financial institutions on the syndicate desk, was widely liked and respected across Europe’s debt capital markets community.
“He was a well liked and much admired member of our fixed-income capital markets team who will be remembered for his professionalism, integrity and friendship,” Morgan Stanley said.
“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with his family, and we will be providing all possible support to help them through this difficult time.”
The cause of death was not known.
A funeral service for Etienne will take place on Monday January 16. Etienne’s family have said they would welcome all friends and colleagues who want to attend. The funeral service will be held at 10.30am at St James Roman Catholic Church, Spanish Place, 22 George Street, London W1U 3QY. If people wish to send flowers to the funeral, they have been asked to ensure these are delivered to the church between 9am and 10am on Monday.
Many people have also asked about the ability to make donations to the Etienne family. The family has set up a website to accept donations that individuals may wish to make in Romain’s memory. Any funds contributed will go directly to Romain’s family. The link to the website is: https://www.leetchi.com/c/memorial-romain-etienne
Colleagues paid tribute to Etienne, who was praised for his patience, helpfulness, sense of humour and honesty, which also made him a great contact for IFR journalists and he was always generous with his time.
Etienne knew early on that banking would be his career, starting as an intern at Societe Generale before being hired on the French bank’s bond syndicate desk in 2006. He rose up the ranks to become a vice president working on primary issuance for financial institutions.
“Romain was not only a highly talented professional, able to show empathy with clients and colleagues, but also, even more importantly, an honest, fun and pleasant character,” said Eric Cherpion, global head of debt capital markets syndicate at Societe Generale.
Etienne remained a popular figure at the bank, even after he moved to Morgan Stanley in 2010.
“He made it a joy to both come every day to the office and to work with,” said Emmanuel Smiecench, a former colleague at SG. “He was a great spirit, a real professional, trustworthy, always looking for improvement and for a way to move forward. Today we are deeply saddened by this enormous loss.”