Up to now, regulators have typically acted as if every bit of excess exposure is potentially hazardous.

In the event of a failure, the second tank and regulator acts as a back-up system.

Until regulators act, the banks will continue to compete with each other.

"The customer is going to be relentless in pushing open markets," he said, which will force regulators to act.

If regulators do not act, members of Congress say they will.

But even once they found problems at Fancy Cutt, the regulators did not act forcefully.

No evidence ever developed that existing regulators had acted improperly.

The regulators may well have acted reasonably both in raising the original alarm and now in calling for a second look.

These disclosures have raised questions about why regulators did not act sooner to protect depositors and other creditors.

But some American psychiatrists say the British regulators acted hastily and went too far.