In the summer of 2012, a series of scandals broke out around the largest, systemically most important banks of the world. In most cases, the roots and practice of misdeeds (Libor rigging, violations of sanctions, money laundering, mis-selling of fake products, tax fraud, insider trading, etc.) go back several years. Regulators imposed record fines on the banks, in a few cases started criminal procedures against the most incriminated players, and a deluge of lawsuits was launched. The regulators raised questions about the responsibility of rating agencies and consultants, but in some cases the scandals shed a dubious light on the regulators themselves, as well as on the British and US governments, and also the American Congress. The talk reviews some of the elements of this series of scandals, and tries to draw some conclusions for regulation.