'Oh no, please not again.' This was the immediate reaction to speculation that Deutsche Bank, with insurance giant Allianz pulling some strings, was trying to negotiate a new alliance with Dresdner Bank. One London-based fund manager with significant shareholdings in both Deutsche and Dresdner said: 'Having watched the main German banks fail miserably at every turn last year in their attempts to merge, why should I believe that they will be any more successful on this occasion?'

Why indeed? Cast your mind back to Wednesday, March 8, 2000 when Deutsche and Dresdner announced that merger negotiations had begun. The market was caught looking totally the other way. Dresdner had been apparently on the verge of merging with Hypovereinsbank. While this never looked like a marriage made in heaven, the combined group would have become one of the largest financial institutions in Europe.