It’s not that bad,” shrugs a French banker friend over lunch. “In some ways it’s a relief.” A quarter of his wealth has disappeared as his bank’s share price has plummeted in recent months and as a result he has put an architectural project on hold. “Now I have an excuse to kill it,” he explains. “It was getting to the point where we were doing it because we were doing it. When you start something you’re meant to stay on course.”

Such a phlegmatic response to financial loss is unusual. Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was said to have reacted badly to the news she had lost millions in the alleged fraud by Bernard Madoff .