We learnt this month that the United States Federal Reserve had decided not to raise the countercyclical capital buffer required of banks above its current level of zero, even though the US economy is at a cyclical peak.

It also removed "qualitative" grades from its stress tests for American banks, though not for foreign ones. Finally, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, led by Mr Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary, removed the last insurer from its list of "too big to fail" institutions.