In the not-too-distant past, all banking executives had to do was pick up their phones or type quick emails and they could be almost guaranteed a prompt response from a senior politician or policymaker. But in the aftermath of the financial crisis this comfortable arrangement has changed.

US banks now struggle to get face time with senior European politicians, while many British banks, which along with their American rivals are seen by some in Europe as more to blame for the crisis than their continental European opponents, also face an uphill struggle to get their voices heard in Brussels.