LONDON: In November 2010 rumours swirled through financial markets that Spanish bank BBVA was suffering a run on its deposits. The share price fell before excitable traders realised they had made a mistake.
In fact the bank was holding a "fun run" in Madrid and customers had lined up outside its branches to get their T-shirts. In a jittery market, talk spread quickly and few things worry bank investors and customers more than talk of a run.
Nervous times have returned to the euro zone, and customers are worrying again about whether their savings are safe.
Banks, regulators and policymakers in Greece, Spain and across Europe are back on high alert to avoid a repeat of the most catastrophic risk for a bank a loss of confidence among savers, or a run on the bank.
A run may start irrationally, but once it takes hold the panic can be entirely rational. No-one wants to be last in line if everyone else is pulling out their cash.
A run on Britain's Northern Rock in September 2007 was one of the most sudden and shocking events of the financial crisis.
It was the first run on a British bank for more than 100 years and critics said it made the country look like a banana republic. Yet it is providing lessons on how to limit the damage in future.
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