James Cayne, chief executive of Bear Stearns, is notorious for having deep pockets and short arms. Alone among Wall Street banks, Bear refused to pony up $250m for the bail-out of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. “They’re completely self-interested,” a banker, quoted in Roger Lowenstein’s When Genius Failed, said at the time.

So when Bear produced a $3.2bn loan facility 10 days ago to rescue one of its two hedge funds that had got into trouble investing in subprime home mortgages, it was fair to assume that self-interest was at stake. Indeed, the bail-out made sound business sense for Mr Cayne’s bank.