Across Wiener Feinb?cker’s 350-strong chain of bakeries, the posters are everywhere. This typical German midsized company is promoting a bond alongside its Br?tchen.

The unusual offer, which promises a 7 per cent coupon for five years, is an eloquent sign of the times. When a thriving business with profits growing at 30 per cent a year resorts to this kind of financing, it is a pretty sure sign that banks are not fulfilling their traditional role.

But if times are changing in Germany, the plight of companies in the peripheral nations of Europe is even tougher. “The credit market is not functioning right now,” says Guillermo Amann at Ormazabal, a Spanish maker of electrical components. “There is no money. The situation is becoming worse and worse.”