Securitisation is not a word you expect to hear on a ski holiday. Everyone should be allowed to enjoy their week off in a pleasurable daze, waking up now and then to sip mulled wine or batter their knees on the piste. So hearing three City of London types talk about structured finance in a ski lift last week just didn't seem right.

Apparently, Hans-Jörg Rudloff is to blame. The former Credit Suisse veteran, now Barclays Capital chairman, started visiting Verbier more than 20 years ago and his peers have been following since. That's how the local ski guides tell the story anyway.