Never let it be said that we would resort to using inside information, but three weeks ago we did suggest that Hansgeorg Hofmann, former head of Dresdner's international division and a member of the Vorstand, might be preparing to return to the centre stage. High time too in our opinion, because here is a German banker with real talent (they are not always made that way in Germany) who has been totally cleared of some minor tax evasion allegations from several years ago. In 1998 we recommended to Paribas, which was still independent at the time, that it should ask Hofmann to take over its entire investment banking group, which was stuck in neutral and clearly in need of a change of oil.
April 28, 2000