It is not easy to feel sympathetic towards Citigroup. The bank is so large and impersonal that you might find better service at Wal-Mart. And, like Wal-Mart, it is in danger of being perceived as ugly. The perception is that Citigroup is only interested in looking after itself and that, if it has to trample on people along the way, it will do so without a second thought.

Chuck Prince, Citigroup chief executive, who seems unaware of the bank's image in the outside world, should beware. Customers don't shop at companies that are deemed to have turned ugly. Just ask Stuart Rose at Marks & Spencer, who has taken 18 months to shed at least part of the group's ugly duckling image.