With Permanent TSB's restructuring plans yet to be approved by the European Commission, the state-owned bank is left trying to make the best of its limbo-like position.

An assault, all guns blazing, on the current account market is one sign of this, with a smaller such glimmer coming this week with the appointment of Davy as corporate broker.

It could be argued that the appointment means little, with the 0.02 per cent freefloat in the bank’s shares leading to limited liquidity to say the least.

Beauty parade
As aspirations go though, the move is perhaps admirable, particularly when it comes to casting an optimistic eye over the capital markets.

The bank itself sees the appointment, which came at the end of a beauty parade, as part of an ongoing “normalisation” process.

“Davy will support our ongoing engagement with the capital markets and in our position on the ESM of the Irish Stock Exchange,” a spokesman said.

The appointment of Davy comes after a period where PermanentTSB had no formally-appointed broker as its separation from Irish Life (since sold to Great-West) was being organised. Davy was, however, broker to the bank in its former guise as part of Irish Life & Permanent, making the latest move a reunification of sorts.