Nokta broke the news this week, andwith it delivered another blow to Dahlman’s fading shipping practice – thesector upon which the bank was founded in 2004 and which remained thecornerstone for years.

It is understood Nokta did not identifyany plans for his next step.

A call to Nokta was not immediatelyreturned this morning.

It is not the first time Nokta hasdecided to leave Dahlman.