"In out, in out, shake it all about" - not just a line from the Hokey Cokey, but a pretty accurate picture of the attitude of banks toward the metals (and general commodities) business during his career, Lord Copper reflects.
Sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's not, and trading teams have been built, dismantled and built again with what often seems like gay abandon. But that all stopped after the Dodd-Frank Act (and the Volcker Rule within it) was passed in the aftermath of the 2008 debacle. Or did it? US President Donald Trump promised during his campaign that he was going to "do a big number" on Dodd-Frank, and he seems to be moving in that direction. Parts of the Act were reversed recently, lifting the "too big to fail" threshold from $50 billion to $250 billion, which has eased the regulatory burden on...