We've seen the stories dozens of times: a second- or third-tier European bank gets the bright idea that it really needs to beef up its investment-banking business. But it can't afford to buy an investment bank outright, so instead it goes out and poaches, at vast expense, entire teams from other, more established, shops. These deals normally come with massive guaranteed bonuses, and invariably end in tears.

So kudos to Italy's Unicredit for trying an interesting new twist on the old model. No, it hasn't woken up and realized that it doesn't need to be in the high-end investment-banking business at all. But at least this time it's bought a ten-man team at NewSmith Capital Partners, rather than poaching them.