Banks would start questioning each other and inter-bank lending would seize up.

FORBES: Fin Reg Wouldn't Have Defused Bear Stearns Time Bomb

It would unlock chains of inter-company debt, as well as weaning banks off the easy option of keeping big chunks of their balance sheet in (supposedly) risk-free government bonds and encouraging them to take more credit risk.

ECONOMIST: Inconspicuous consumption

Market insiders at an inter-dealer broker believe that derivative revenues at the biggest European banks are at least as large.

ECONOMIST: Derivatives: Over the counter, out of sight | The