He was JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon’s trusted lieutenant, and investment banker to the stars Matthew Grounds calls him the “banker who never wavers”, but little has been published about Queenslander Paul Compton, chairman of Barclays investment bank on Wall St, and a director at Barrenjoey Capital Partners.

Compton, a fit-looking 60 with several marathon under his belt, has spent more than 30 years in Manhattan’s financial district. We are dining at Oceana restaurant, which is next door to his office and just a block or two from the dazzling neon lights of Times Square.