The appointment of advisers to handle the sale of State assets is a complicated and often fraught process with the risk of legal action against the State unless all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted.

The result of the second tender process for the appointment of corporate finance and legal advisers to the Government on the sale of ICC Bank is now imminent.

ABN-Amro and Arthur Cox were the winners of the first competitive tender process, having put in a joint tender. But then Arthur Cox was informed one of its clients had an interest in ICC, so the legal firm had to withdraw from its joint role as adviser to the Government.

A new tender process ensued. There were six entries in the first competition. There are five competitors in the second, but the line-up has changed. Arthur Cox and another of the competitors involved in the original process are no longer involved while ABN-Amro is still in the running.