The German and Japanese Governments can borrow for 10 years at less than 0.4 of a percentage point, while the US and UK Governments pay 2 per cent or less. At shorter maturities, investors are prepared to actually pay governments to look after their money.
For this reason, I believe that an important signal to the market and to banks is to develop mechanisms that allow even big banks to fail without destabilising the entire financial system. The possibility of a market exit, which is fundamental to any market economy, must also exist for the banking sector.