An investment bank may help out a client in financial trouble – but it will usually exact a price. Earlier this year the big US investment banks needed help themselves – from the Federal Reserve – but they have begun to fret about the price in terms of regulation. Tougher rules cannot be avoided, but it is important that those rules reflect the difference between taking customer deposits and raising finance in the repo and money markets.

Since the near-panic in financial markets in March that culminated in the rescue of Bear Stearns, the Fed has allowed investment banks to borrow from it directly, something that was previously not possible. But now that the immediate crisis has passed, some of those investment banks fear that the price of continued access to Fed borrowing may be severe restrictions on the amount of leverage they can employ and the amount of risk they can take. Such limits would reduce their profits.