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As soon as it became clear that Bradford & Bingley was in trouble the giant America-based private equity firm, Texas Pacific, moved in and secured over 20 per cent of the bank at a generous rate.

At the same time, either by coincidence or opportune timing, Steven Crawshaw, the chief executive, decided to step down due to his heart condition.

Note that at this stage there are no long queues around branches of the former building society, nor is a media-induced panic catapulting people off their cosy sofas to parade up and down the high street demanding their investments back.

On the contrary, Rod Kent, Bradford & Bingley's chairman, has stepped in as temporary executive chairman, the bank has launched a rights issue and, more or less, it is business as usual.

The market works remarkably efficiently when it is allowed the freedom to operate without political interference or media bullying.

What is clear, however, is that the Bradford & Bingley business model has been fractured ever since the days of Christopher Rodriguez, who preceded Mr Crawshaw.

The early days of Mr Crawshaw's leadership were rumbustious and exciting: the rush for growth which left many in the industry with aghast, the decision to de-link itself as an IFA firm and re-cast itself as a mortgage bank, offloading John Charcol, the nation's leading mortgage broker, then, after a period of fumbling about, settling to be the leading buy-to-let lender in the country.

All these decisions no doubt were made with the best of business intentions, but singly and together they are solid evidence that Mr Crawshaw was not the best person to head up the bank. What this says about Mr Kent's position as chairman is questionable.

Only in April Bradford & Bingley was telling the world and its children that it was so well-positioned financially that the £2bn funding facility it had in place remained untouched. What has changed since then?

Of course there must be an inquiry, but whatever the outcome the Bradford & Bingley board owes the financial sector – indeed, the rest of Britain – a duty of explaining what went wrong between April and June.