It is not often that the Bank of England and European Central Bank feel sufficiently exercised about a problem to issue a joint statement. Recently they did, and what was on their minds was the anaemic state of the market for European securitisation – the financing technique whereby income streams from mortgages, auto, consumer and business loans are packaged by banks into securities and bought by investors.

Last month's joint statement read: "Securitisation, if appropriately structured and regulated, can complement long-term wholesale funding sources for the real economy, including for small and medium-sized enterprises."