As London sweltered in the unusually hot weather last week, the Ranger learnt an important lesson: never confuse Industrial and Commercial Bank of China with Bank of China in front of Vincent Walsh!
The Ranger was sipping a cappuccino with the Bank of China syndicate head when the slip-up occurred.
“... was that your deal I am thinking of? Or perhaps ICBC?” the Ranger asked naively. Then a shadow crossed the mild-mannered banker’s face.
“No. You are thinking of ICBC.”
Walsh was not pleased to yet again be confused with his compatriot bank (apparently it’s happened once too often).
In truth, Walsh is far too laid back to get in a tizz over something so minor, but loans bankers have been known to throw their toys out of the pram, perhaps the summer heat is getting to them.
Last week, Laurent Vignon, while presumably sitting in a sticky Paris office, bemoaned the age old rivalry between loans and bonds bankers (the common complaint is that bonds bankers reap juicy fees from a client althoughthanks to the subsidies provided to clients by way of, ahem, 'keenly priced' loans that sweeten the relationship.
“It feels like we are just sitting at the table for the DCM guys to be honest,” said the Soc Gen banker. But Vignon was still good humoured about the experience. “It comes with the territory I guess.”
A third banker, who shall remain unnamed, had an especially malicious response to the outcome of the UK’s so-called Brexit referendum. He told the Ranger that the reason why the UK voted to leave the European Union was because: "the great unwashed... don't possess a single brain cell."
The Ranger does not agree with the anonymous banker’s views but suggests a cold drink and some air conditioning to recover his temper.
