Many bankers and investors in Europe may not feel a natural affinity with the Tea Party movement or the Sarah Palin-led wing of the Republican party, which led the successful backlash last week against President Obama’s “hopey changey” administration.

But through the narrow prism of financial reform, even the most liberal bankers back in "socialist" Europe might soon become grateful for the biggest swing in political sentiment in the US since 1948, which resulted in the Republicans seizing control of the House of Representatives last week.