A second managing director has left the Paris office of Lazard in as many days, as competition for top French investment bankers intensifies following the election of business-friendly president Nicolas Sarkozy four months ago.

Virginie Morgon, a managing director in Lazard's Paris-based consumer sector mergers and acquisitions group, has quit the bank to join French investment company Eurazeo. Morgon will join in December and become a member of Eurazeo's executive committee.