ONE MORE THING:ANGLO IRISH Bank reports results for the first half of 2011 today amid high hopes that the bank's record for making record-breaking losses may be in the past.

Meanwhile, tidying-up activities continue at the troubled bank which is officially in “wind-down” mode. Anglo received second-round offers for its US loan-book this week.

As with most sales processes, the number of parties who are prepared to put their money on the table is believed to be much lower than the 20-plus institutions which lodged bids (some as part of consortiums) in the first round of offers earlier this month.

Anglo also crossed another regulatory hurdle yesterday with the news that the Central Bank has provisionally approved the bank’s takeover of Quinn Insurance in conjunction with Liberty Mutual.

However, while Anglo may be making progress on some fronts, it is facing difficulties in terms of its internal staffing. Anglo still has a sizeable troubled loan book which it is in the process of winding down over a 10 year period.

As reported earlier this week, AIB is recruiting key Anglo staff, who are expert in this area, offering better terms and conditions, including substantial pay rises. A number have already jumped ship to AIB.

The fact that two State-owned banks are vying for staff and offering premium salary rates must be particularly galling for the thousands of AIB and Anglo staff members losing their jobs. It also flies in the face of what Jonathan McMahon, head of financial institutions at the Central Bank, told specialist online newspaper Financial News this week.

“We need some new blood in the banks themselves; people who can turn them around. In the years preceding the crisis, when money was being made hand over fist in real estate, there wasn’t enough investment in the back office. We’re trying to change the infrastructure, and the culture, and we’re in the early stages of that.”