"Politicians want to look like they are doing something while not doing something, " says Joseph Mason, a professor at Drexel University who studies banking regulation and capital markets.

FORBES: Bush's Bad Mortgage Medicine

Until they accept the case for the sort of pre-emptive insurance outlined in this report tighter regulation, bigger capital cushions, perhaps more separation between different kinds of banking the clock will continue to tick towards the next financial crisis.

ECONOMIST: The case for pre-emptive action

As Mr Borio at the Bank for International Settlements points out, many of the ideas around countercyclicality (setting aside more capital in good times) and macroprudential regulation (safeguarding the stability of the whole banking system as well as of individual banks) were oven-ready, having been worked on by a coterie of central bankers, academics and regulators for a number of years.

ECONOMIST: Banks will still make money, just less of it

However, the two remedies you put forward more regulation and capital ignore a simpler, bolder option: split up the banking behemoths.

ECONOMIST: No demographic time bomb

Lloyds has said that following discussions with the banking regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority, it does not need to sell new shares to boost its capital resources and enhance its ability to absorb future losses.

BBC: Lloyds and RBS 'won't be further nationalised'

Financial regulation was supposed to clean up the banking system and level the playing field for consumers trying to access capital.

FORBES: New Financial Regs Will Force Low-Income Americans Out Of Traditional Banks