EBRD expected to give Attali pounds 147,000 pay-off

JACQUES ATTALI is likely to receive a pay-off equivalent to pounds 250,000 before tax when he leaves the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, writes Peter Rodgers.

Anne Wibble, the bank's chairman, was quoted last night as confirming that Mr Attali would receive a full year's salary - last reported as pounds 147,000 free of tax - for termination of employment. The pay-off represents half of a remaining two- year contract.

Mr Attali resigned last month following widespread criticism of profligate spending on bank overheads.

Mrs Wibble yesterday tried to cheer up staff by promising that a new official candidate should be elected in mid-August after nominations arrive from member countries by 21 July.

But, with a devastating audit report on the bank due to be published next week or soon after, Mr Attali's position as nominal chief of the bank until a replacement is found is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Mrs Wibble told staff she hoped the election timetable would allow for consultations. She said she started these last week, and this week met Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor, in London. There were two official candidates - Jacques de Larosiere, governor of the Bank of France, and Henning Christophersen, the Danish EC commissioner.

By the end of this year 30 per cent of the bank's capital base would have been committed, which would be 'quite an achievement'.

Mrs Wibble acknowledged faults in the organisation, saying there was a need for a more integrated approach in operations and close co- ordination between the operational departments.