It was somewhat fitting that the entertainment at last night’s prestigious International Financing Review awards included an Abba tribute band, as the Swedish supergroup’s lyrics have become painfully poignant in the wake of the shattering events for the investment banking industry last year.

Despite months of market turmoil and reports of potential demonstrations outside the venue, bankers turned out in force at last night's awards bash, and their determination to put on a brave face, for one evening at least, could have been amply expressed by the lines from Abba hit The Winner Takes It All: "I don't wanna talk/ About the things we've gone through/ Though it's hurting me/ Now it's history."