It broke the power of a bank oligopoly that had wasted Israel's savings on reckless loans to cronies in big business while starving small- and medium-sized enterprises of credit.

ECONOMIST: Israel at 60

Fashion has swung towards banks with big balance sheets that can offer loans as a lure for investment-banking business.

ECONOMIST: Germany's biggest bank regroups to storm New York

Morgan Stanley and other big firms are also starting to rebuild their securitization business, which pools together auto loans, credit-card receivables, and other forms of credit, and then issues bonds backed by them.

NEWYORKER: What Good Is Wall Street?