Sign of times as State's most toxic bank stripped of its name

It was a low-key affair – the removal of signs from offices of the financial institution that helped to cause a crisis

A SMALL cheer went up as the Anglo Irish Bank logo was finally erased from Dublin’s city centre yesterday.

A small crowd of onlookers stopped to watch in the sun as the sign, which had hung outside the bank’s headquarters on St Stephen’s Green for more than a decade, was removed shortly after 2pm.

It was a relatively low-key occasion that marked yet another step in the wind-down of a bank that lies at the heart of Ireland’s financial crisis.

It also signified the end for the familiar Anglo logo. An historic internal bank document explained the rationale behind the image, describing it as a “true merger of past and future, of security and progression”.

“Based on early Irish references such as flint arrowheads, typography from the Book of Kells and crafted gold artefacts, the simplicity of the image sets the tone for a more cohesive corporate identity programme and spearheads measurable improvements in brand awareness.”

A similar scene was played out in other cities throughout the country as the financial institution prepared to leave the Anglo brand behind.

“It’s practical and symbolic. We’re changing the name, so the name has to come off the front of the building. But symbolic because the organisation is fundamentally a different organisation than what it was.

“We’ve spent a lot of time and effort re-engineering the control systems, we’ve taken out the board, we’ve taken out senior management, we’ve taken out layers of management,” Anglo’s chief executive Mike Aynsley said.

He said it was important to draw a line between “the Anglo that created the problems, and the new organisation, which is a different group of people under a different management structure and a different board that are charged with getting as much out of this mess as possible.”

Anglo and Irish Nationwide have already begun the process of merging, with both financial institutions transferring their deposits to AIB and Irish Life Permanent.

It is not yet known what the new name of the merged Irish Nationwide and Anglo will be.

Aynsley said it would likely be the early summer before it is announced. The name had been approved by the Government, and was now with the Central Bank, he said.

However, the new name will not be as visible on the State’s streets as Anglo was.

“You won’t see the new name outside buildings,” he said. “That costs money.”

There was great interest in the plans for the former Anglo signage – sure to be a collector’s item in years to come – but Aynsley said no decision had yet been made, although he was sure that the institution would find some use for them.