Looking back over the past year, it is striking how little has changed in the derivatives markets. They continue to make tons of money for the leading banks and, as yet, the heavy hand of regulation has failed to fall on the industry.

In December 2008, this seemed scarcely possible. The financial system had apparently changed for good, and the role of derivatives in precipitating financial Armageddon, the extent of which was still unknown, appeared significant. It seemed Warren Buffett was right: derivatives were indeed "weapons of mass destruction".