Belatedly, the realisation is growing that Wall Street's fall from grace is going to be prolonged, difficult to correct and very expensive. The fact that normally taciturn investment bankers are speaking out publicly when they prefer anonymity and behind-the-scenes deals is proof enough of the high stakes involved.

Henry Paulson, the intensely private chief executive of Goldman Sachs, surprised even his closest colleagues earlier this month when he gave a speech at the National Press Club in Washington describing the recurring revelations of market manipulation, conflicts and self-dealing as the greatest crisis facing American business in his lifetime. He exhorted his Wall Street colleagues and corporate executives to step forward and address the issues publicly, in the interest of restoring public confidence in a battered system.