After $37bn of writedowns, a share price collapse of as much as 70%, the departure of its chairman and chief executive, and thousands of job losses, there is not a lot to smile about at UBS. But the Swiss bank’s excoriating report last week into its catastrophic failures in the past three years provides a glimmer of hope – not only to UBS but also to the rest of the financial markets.

The report is the most honest, lucid and detailed insight yet into roots of the credit crisis. While it makes for unpleasant reading, UBS should be praised for being so painfully honest and for providing what should be a case study in every business school, and required reading for every senior manager and board director in the banking industry.