The more restrictions they put on the bail-out, the more likely it will emerge as a messy fudge, lacking the wallop necessary to put the banks on a more stable footing.

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The conservative National Action Party has been less critical, but was expected to propose, late this week, a compromise that the government might accept: turn most of the bonds into public debt, but put some of the cost of the bail-out back on to the banks.

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If its enterprise value falls below its liabilities, equity holders will avoid further losses by a "put" to debt holders, meaning they bail out and let creditors fight over the remains.

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But precisely the same arguments - for what is known as a "bail-in" by private-sector creditors - were put by liberal-market purists at the peak of the banking crises in Ireland and Spain.

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Louw had said when the runner was in detention that he wanted to put him back into training in the event that he was granted bail.

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The bigger the bail-out, the weaker the incentive for countries like Italy and Greece to put themselves in order.

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