Given the implacable rivalry between German states, Stuttgart will be part of Germany's financial scene for a while yet.

ECONOMIST: A small exchange irritates a big one

With his reputation for bungling important things secure, Gensler now turns to fringe players on the financial scene like InTrade.

FORBES: CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler Pulls A Captain Renault Over InTrade

The scene: a cocktail party at a financial gathering last February.

FORBES: Digital Rules

For those who have lost count of the institutions that were pulverised by the financial crisis, Anglo Irish was an erstwhile star of Ireland's banking scene, which rose quickly from inauspicious roots during Ireland's heady growth in the 1990s, only to rack up enormous property-related losses when the bubble burst.

ECONOMIST: Sovereigns v creditors