Walter Bagehot’s classic, Lombard Street , was his response to the i nancial crisis sparked by the collapse of the Overend Gurney bank and to what he saw as the enormity of the potential liabilities of the City of London, which accompanied its great wealth. He wrote: ‘[W]e must examine the system on which these, great masses of money are manipulated, and assure ourselves that it is safe and right’. Professor Avgouleas has penned an equally authoritative study of the background to the i nancial crisis which began in 2007 and the ameliorative steps subsequently taken. He too inquires whether the system is now ‘safe and right’. h e answer is not totally reassuring as regards the international operation of the world’s i nancial giants and the i nancial revolution they have spawned. In his view what is necessary is a new system of global i nancial governance, underpinned by an umbrella international treaty.