When it emerged this month that Kay Swinburne, an MEP and member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, was suggesting that asset managers should be subject to rules governing an orderly winding down of failed firms, some may have felt it was a logical step.

After all, failed large banks pose a systemic risk to the economy and the fund management industry in Europe is also large - with an estimated €15.4 trillion of assets under management at the end of last year, according to European Fund and Asset Management Association estimates in June. That compares with last year's gross national product of EU countries of €12.7 trillion.