The credit crunch has thrown the European banking deck high into the air. How it falls will shape the industry for years. It is incredible therefore that most financial services companies, rather than grabbing at opportunities, seem to be transfixed by the swirling cards.

You can bet that corporate bankers (who have plenty of spare time these days) are pitching all kinds of deals. The European banking sector has not been this cheap – now trading on a single digit prospective price/ earnings ratio – for 16 years. There are high-quality Spanish names on seven times earnings and more wobbly, but ultimately fine, UK banks below five times. Price-to-book ratios are at decade lows.