Perhaps the charms of Paris, where representatives from 14 Lebanese parties are to meet next week, will prove more conducive to compromise than crisis-ridden Beirut.
Some board members are keen on a European investment-banking tie-up, perhaps with Banque Nationale de Paris, which recently took control of a rival French bank, Paribas, and which has a longstanding alliance (and small cross-shareholding) with Dresdner.