“Sophisticated investors need flexible arrangements, not fussy inspectors,” says John Veals, the horrid hedgie at the centre of Sebastian Faulks’ new novel. He is – naturally – an evil, super-rich tax-avoider. To complete the caricature, his fund is based in Switzerland, not the UK. When the Financial Services Authority comes visiting, it comes in the form of Caroline Wilby, a tremulous 26-year-old failed banker, who haltingly solicits a job in Veals’ compliance department.

The original spirit behind the European Union’s directive on alternative investment fund managers suggests Faulks’ latest will sell a bundle in French and German translation. The draft proposals – and the tone in which they were backed by Paris and Berlin – seemed to be based on the same false premise as the novel: that hedge funds and private equity were behind the financial crisis. From there, it was only a short step to draconian rules that could drive funds out of the EU.