In his first full week at the US Treasury, following the love-in of the Senate confirmation hearing, Hank Paulson will no doubt find his inbox overflowing. It will not be the diet he was used to at Goldman Sachs. No more daily “value at risk” reports or eight-figure accountants’ invoices for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance work. Instead, global issues will dominate. The forthcoming Group of Eight summit will be there, the depressing World Trade Organisation prospect requires his attention and he needs to go to China to establish a more constructive dialogue on the future of the renminbi.

Even before the new Treasury secretary starts, there may be one of those warning messages from the system administrator: “Your mailbox has exceeded one of its size limits.” Nonetheless, he should find a small corner for financial regulation, where the Treasury could, if so inclined, play a more important role than in the recent past and promote much-needed change.