... Tougher regulation didn't and won't stop any cockups. Compare London's light-touch regulation to the more abrasive New York regulation, and I think you will find that it was New York that had to endure the Madoff episode, the capitulation of the entire US investment banking scene, and the collapse of its largest financial institutions (AIG/Citi). Even anti-anglo-saxon France had to succumb to the Kerviel affair at Soc Gen.....