Wisened by the abysmal banking losses financial regulators failed to foresee, the European Commission has fired its latest volley of reform proposals. Had they been put in place some years ago, they might have done a lot of good. But better late than never.

Brussels wants financial companies to hold more capital for proprietary trading and on complex assets like the collateralised debt obligations that blasted through US banks’ capital cushions last year. Both ideas are excellent.