In contrast, HSBC was the first name from the lips of Bankgesellschaft Berlin (BGB) chairman Hans-Joerg Vetter when he was asked recently who might buy the bank as it starts to move back into the black and look like a going concern. Pipe-smoking Mr Vetter does not seem like a tough do-or-die CEO but the results he is producing suggest that he knows how to make things happen. BGB, remember, racked up huge property-related losses, had to be bailed out by the city of Berlin to the tune of E1.7bn and then failed to attract a bid higher than the emergency aid. Outcome: it stayed under Berlin city’s ownership.
Mr Vetter, who succeeded Wolfgang Rupf following his resignation in late 2001, says his worst moment was addressing the staff just before Christmas and telling them that 40% would lose their jobs. Another bad experience was not knowing whether the bank had hit bottom.
Now the staff count has been slimmed down from 17,000 to 10,000 and the bank, with its franchise of 2.5 million customers, is looking attractive to go on the block in 2006.
