30 MARCH 1985, Page 18

High and dry

The great City crash must be nearer than we think. Witness the exchange be- tween two of the City's most potent forces: one, just about its biggest wine-merchant; the other, just about its grandest merchant bank, whose name is good for billions. The bank ordered a case of champagne. Two months later, no champagne had arrived. Commotion at the bank, stone faces at the wine-merchant: they would not deliver without cash in advance. One way or another, there is a crisis of liquidity.

Christopher Fildes