It says something about the resilience of Goldman Sachs' German business that it worked on the country's biggest mergers and acquisitions amid several high-level departures. The fact that Lehman Brothers poached two of Goldman Sachs' partners did not stop the bank being front and centre on the glut of private equity-backed deals that fuelled German M&A activity during 2004.

Goldman Sachs was omnipresent as investor and adviser on the continuing restructuring of the German market.