When Steve Berger joined Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in 2003, he envisaged a different exit from the one he made two weeks ago, when he resigned as head of corporate finance and origination.

Berger was hired from Lehman Brothers, where he had been instrumental in spinning off the bank from American Express, and he arrived at DrKW with similar thoughts. He was able to lure several highly respected bankers, including Don Meltzer, with the prospect of a handsome pay-off if Allianz decided to cash in on DrKW.