Warburg, one of the most distinguished City names, is to disappear from the financial world after parent bank UBS elected to rebrand itself using just the three initials, which stand for absolutely nothing.
It also comes six weeks after a party to celebrate the birth of Sir Siegmund Warburg, founder of the merchant bank, who is widely credited with transforming the City after the Second World War.
John Costas, chief executive of UBS Warburg, as it will continue to be known until the middle of next year, described it as "the right decision" to establish one brand "as a master brand".
Ironically, the master brand is meaningless. UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, was formed from a £37 billion merger between Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation, former parent of SG Warburg, four years ago.
It was intended to call the merged entity United Bank of Switzerland, but the architects of the deal forgot all about United Bank AG Zurich, a small private bank, which refused to sell its name. Consequently, it became UBS.
Mr Costas said that the research into rebranding began two years ago after UBS acquired Paine Webber, an American private client business whose name will also be lost in the move.
"We interviewed over 1,000 private clients in 40 countries, over 40 institutions and several hundred corporates," he said. "The research showed that one brand was a maximum value proposition."
UBS yesterday reported third-quarter net profits of Sfr942m (£410m), up 4pc on a year earlier but down 29pc on the previous quarter. The bank also warned that full-year results would not reach the levels of last year.
Mr Costas said that UBS Warburg would "pay best performers well" but added that he would expect annual bonuses to suffer a "double digit decline" this year.