New life for glistening bank

By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail
Updated: 08:43 EDT, 28 May 2011

The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, set up two decades ago to help Eastern Europe join the world of free markets, was always seen as having a sell-by date.

Once the job was done, it would be dismantled. But bureaucracies have a way of remaking themselves.

The OECD - which comments on every aspect of our daily lives from the way the economy is run to measuring Britain's place in the single mums league table - grew out of the post-War Marshall Plan.

The EBRD has never been a particularly popular lender. It was born in opulence with the finest marble-clad walls.

Its first president, the French intellectual Jacque Attali, enjoyed flying the world in Francois Mitterrand's presidential jet.

Similarly, the directors of the bank, drawn from the shareholding countries, set themselves up in London on their taxpayers' expense in the style to which they were accustomed.

It was never quite clear why the EBRD was necessary given that the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were doing much the same stuff of investing in reform behind the old Iron Curtain.

We should not be surprised, perhaps, now that demand for the EBRD's services is much reduced in Eastern Europe, it has been busy lobbying to become the lead institution on supporting the Arab Spring - or perhaps we should call it autumn - given events in Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Anyway, under the grandiosely named 'Deauville Partnership' (no that is not the name of a horseracing syndicate), the EBRD has been given a new lease of life putting together the content of a new $20bn (£12.5bn) programme to support reform in Egypt, Tunisia and the other nations of North Africa and the Gulf. The fact that much of the strategy has already been set by the World Bank and IMF seems to be irrelevant.

The glistening bank looks to be as vainglorious as ever and has dealt itself a new role and, for that matter, the right to spend ever more of Britain's aid budget. How civilised.

Puffing Virgin

When it comes to hype the Virgin group is a world champion. So we should treat the idea that Virgin Money is cruising towards the takeover of 600 discarded branches of Lloyds with some scepticism.

Chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia may be good at bouncing on beds (that is how she was pictured in one newspaper) but such images are hardly likely to contribute to the credibility of her case.

The first thing to note is that we have absolutely no idea how many branches Lloyds will have to shed. Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio is deep in discussion with Sir John Vickers, head of the Independent Commission on Banking.

Secondly, Sir Richard Branson's group is not the only game in town. My understanding is that discussions have taken place with a number of other potential buyers including Lord Levene's vehicle NBNK, where Gary Hoffman has just arrived as chief executive, as well as National Australian Bank.

As Santander discovered when it took over the Royal Bank of Scotland's branches in England and NatWest outlets in Scotland, it is not simply a matter of handing over the keys.

Separating out customers, services, IT and capital can be very complex. Moreover, the buyer (with the possible exception of NAB) may need to raise a considerable amount of funding to buy the branches.

It is also worth noting that with Basel III and a tough new Bank of England-led regulatory regime coming down the pipe, the capital and other tests for a new owner are likely to be far tougher than they have been in the past.

Clearly, Lloyds would like to get this transaction done so that it can get on with reshaping its business and returning the government's 41pc stake to the public markets.

Virgin's advantage, if there is one, is that it does seem to understand customer service having run an airline and train company. But we should not count on Virgin being the winner any more than it was when Northern Rock was up for sale four years ago.

Irene unhinged

When you are in a hole the usual instruction is to stop digging. No one seems to have explained this to Kraft boss and branding guru Irene Rosenfeld.

Having been warned by a parliamentary committee she was close to being held in contempt for refusing to testify on the Cadbury takeover she now says appearing before the Commons was 'not the best use of her personal time'.

As for the UK media, 'they're not always accurate'.

People who live in glass houses...