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So is that it then - is the financial crisis over? Bank share prices have bounced back and confidence has returned. The government appears to have shored up the sector, but at a high price.
Ministers looked like they were taking a firm hand just three weeks ago when they promised £37bn to bail out the banks. We were told that bonuses would be banned, banks would refrain from paying dividends for five years and lending would be increased. There would be government representatives on the boards.
In return for a huge financial injection, the government would have a say in running the banks. These conditions attached to the deal were designed to protect taxpayers.
But the banks don't appear to have noticed that business has changed.
They are talking about paying off the government's preference shares in a year or two and resuming dividends. Bonuses are still very much on for those below board level and executives insist it is business as usual on lending.
What about the board representatives? Don't worry about them, the banks say, we will put forward names for the government to approve. It is safe to assume there won't be any firebrands among them.
How the world has changed in a short time. Just weeks ago, the banks were desperate to be rescued. RBS appears to have been on the brink of collapse. Executives made a lot of concessions in the heat of the moment.
Now that their share prices are no longer being hammered, the bankers are glossing over any conditions attached to the deal. And what's more, the government appears to be letting them get away with it.
Of course, part of the rhetoric is to talk up the share prices, making it more likely that existing investors will take part in the capital-raising and the government's stake will be smaller.
But where is the Treasury in all of this? So far, the government has rolled over. The only move has been to appoint Philip Hampton and John Kingman to watch over the banks as part of the UK Financial Investments Ltd agency that will manage the government's stakes.
Surely, ministers should be holding the banks to their commitments? We need a chastened banking industry that gets back to basics. At this rate, we will see bankers rushing off to gamble with our money in the sort of high-stakes game that brought on the crisis in the first place.
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