September 15: The evolution of the banking industry and coming regulatory changes have brought the industry to the point where banks would do better to shrink themselves and opt for less risk than continue as behemoths, wrote Roy C Smith.

Fears of recession, tough trading conditions, an ocean of unresolved litigation and the worsening eurozone mess have delivered a real pounding to bank stocks this summer, with the top 10 global capital markets banks losing approximately $200bn in market capitalisation since July 1.