The Silicon Valley Bank collapse should act as a warning

There was a day in 2008 when I went to visit what was then the UK financial watchdog, the FSA, at its headquarters in Canary Wharf. The topic under discussion was Northern Rock, the mortgage lender that was in crisis.

After that, I crossed to the other side of the dock at Canary Wharf, for lunch at Lehman Brothers. Over a silver-service meal that would have done a Michelin inspector proud, my companion expressed their pity for the regulator; how the people working there were not paid enough; how Northern Rock, which was a particularly aggressive extender of credit, was a risky business model. As the liveried waiters poured the most expensive wines, all seemed well and content in Lehman land.

A few weeks later, Lehman went bust, and we were treated to those pictures of employees carrying out their boxes of personal belongings as the world juddered on its axis.