Sir Robert Peel, the founder of modern policing in the UK, said force should only be used to secure observance of the law when the exercise of advice, persuasion and warning is found to be insufficient.

Although Peel's message is almost two centuries old, US financial markets regulators have taken it to heart in the past year. With the possible exception of Frank Quattrone, the disgraced former Credit Suisse First Boston technology banker, they have stopped short of bundling capital markets executives into their squad cars, throwing them in prison and telling them to sober up and think about what they have done.