Is it accurate to refer to Simon Robertson as former executive chairman of DKB? Some newspapers did. However Robertson's resignation at the end of February is not the part which is inaccurate.
The bone of contention is the use of DKB, the abbreviated version of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. It may seem logical to shorten the name, just as BZW or DMG are the shortened version of Barclays de Zoete Wedd and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. However, it is wrong to do so.
That is because there is already a DKB, and since 1993 it has been a UK registered trademark. The DKB in question is Japan's Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, which uses the initials for its international operations.
Market sources say the confusion has been heightening, with Japan's DKB receiving faxes intended for Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, and even invitations into deals.
But a spokesman for DKB says "it's not an issue" and adds that it was under the impression that the German bank was using Dresdner KB to describe itself, not DKB.
However, the official line from Dresdner Kleinwort Benson is that Dresdner KB is never used. "We have gone to great lengths," says a spokesman, "to instruct people that we are called Dresdner Kleinwort Benson externally."
But the spokesman admits that things are rather trickier internally. "The plain fact is that people are apt to shorten it to DKB. And journalists also do it, but we can't control that."
Should frustration mount at DKB House, the law is on its side to secure some form of redress. "We don't want to be confused with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank any more than they would with us," the Dresdner Kleinwort Benson spokesman says.
One solution might be to drop the Kleinwort Benson bit and just call it Dresdner Bank. SI