The culture of never-ending credit is coming to an end as the banking crisis forces people to take stock of borrowing. But it is is not just banks that are getting tough on borrowers – spread betting firms are also tightening their lending criteria.

“As the markets have become more volatile, the amounts that investors have been losing through spread bets have also become much larger,” says David Buik at Cantor Index. “At the end of last year, we recognised the danger and decided to stop offering a credit facility for our clients.”