The financial crisis introduced the idea of banks that are not only too big to fail but, in some ways, too big to save. When their assets become multiples of the gross domestic product of even an advanced country, and when guaranteeing their liabilities threatens to bankrupt the nation, there is a legitimate political debate about the size of banks.

The Bracken column is named after Brendan Bracken, the founding editor of The Banker in 1926 and chairman of the modern-day Financial Times from 1945 to 1958.
The consensus explanation for the global financial crisis is that reckless lending to high-risk borrowers in the US created the credit crunch. This personalises the crisis (bonus-driven behaviour) and simplifies the solution (more state regulation). But this diagnosis is false and the consequent remedy would not prevent the next property boom and bust.

Nanno Kleiterp, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, FMO (Netherlands Development Finance Company)
Development finance institutions can help companies in emerging markets overcome the short-term crisis created by global banking groups' lack of credit, but local banks must pick up the gauntlet in the long term.

The governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait discusses the impact political instability is having on the country and the effect he hopes the new Financial Stability Law will have. Writer Stephen Timewell

Merrill Lynch's orchestration of the EDF purchase of British Energy was one of the most complex and drawn-out deals of its kind ever undertaken. Writer Edward Russell-Walling

Its longevity is as unique as its global appeal and from its very first issue to this, its 1000th, The Banker has remained true to the vision set out by its founder, Brendan Bracken. The international outlook and forward thinking that has made The Banker such a success over the past 83 years is a course that will be steadfastly continued. Writer Stephen Timewell

The Bracken column is named after Brendan Bracken, the founding editor of The Banker in 1926 and chairman of the modern-day Financial Times from 1945 to 1958.
There is a good deal of support for Jacques de Larosière’s February 2009 report on how to 'repair' the EU's financial supervisory and regulatory structures, balancing just enough centralisation with national safeguards to get widespread support. But he barely considers the key question of who will provide funds to tackle a banking crisis if the decisions to save or let a bank go affect more than one country. While funding is a domestic problem, it is also a domestic political tool to be shaped in line with national objectives, national priorities and national beneficiaries.

Multilateral support has surged in importance in central and eastern Europe as the era of excess leverage unwinds. However, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will stay true to its principles.
Thomas Mirow, President of EBRD