What reflection is Robert Steel looking at? Wachovia’s chief executive described his haggard bank as, in many ways, the “mirror image” of its far prettier owner-to-be Wells Fargo. He wishes. While Wells sucked in deposits in the third quarter, Wachovia waved goodbye to nearly a quarter of its commercial deposits, with core deposits dropping 8 per cent from the second quarter. Wells last week reported net income of $1.6bn. Its cut-price acquisition racked up a net loss of $24bn.

Wachovia has, though, begun tarting itself up. Companies often wipe their face clean before a deal completes, but some of the losses announced on Wednesday would have had greater benefits to Wells after the deal has closed. Then Wells could have used the full extent of Wachovia’s losses to reduce its tax bill, after a rule change which helped the union happen. The $18.8bn impairment to goodwill, however, would have offered almost no tax advantage to Wells.