One might have hoped everything would be clear by now. It is more than 10 years since the failure of the UK mortgage lender Northern Rock marked the beginning to Europe’s financial crisis. But when it comes to saving failing banks, Europe’s regulators have managed to send out a number of contradictory and conflicting messages.

With the EU’s Banking Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) in force, and the Single Resolution Board (SRB) in place, the post-crisis machinery was ready to clarify these situations a year ago. But last summer’s banking failures in Spain (Banco Popular) and Italy (winding up Veneto Banca and Banco Popolare) set rather different precedents.