Some deals cry out for the airbrush. A visitor to Time Warner’s website has to look hard for traces of AOL, the internet company it absorbed eight years ago with generally disastrous consequences. A spin-off later this year may make the separation complete.

Similarly, Rio Tinto seems to be doing its damndest to cover up Alcan – its own ill-timed, over-priced venture into new territory. Paul Skinner, former non-executive chairman, seen as the 2007 deal’s champion, has gone. The debt amassed to pay for it is going: Rio’s is one of the world’s top 10 best-performing credit default swaps this year, narrowing almost 88 per cent. Now the governance structure that facilitated it is history, the group’s investment committee – responsible for reviewing proposals for big capital decisions – will no longer be run by the chairman.