A gap of seven years between one edition and another of one of the standard texts of banking law is an eternity in modern times with both domestic and EEC case law and legislation pouring fourth like a great cascade of water. The 10th edition of Paget is therefore greatly welcomed both as an exercise in updating but also as an attempt to recast the work to reflect modern trends and adjustments in the emphasis of the law. The sad death of Maurice Megragh and the retirement of Frank Ryder from active writing has required a new team of writers. Mark Hapgood and his team have succeeded very well in producing a clear and concise edition cutting out a lot of the deadwood which has accummulated since the first edition in 1904. The net result is an increase of only one page in the new edition. No less than 13 people other than Hapgood have either written chapters or assisted in their preparation—perhaps he should have been more accurately described as editor of the work on the front cover? Surprisingly, or perhaps feeling that one encyclopedia (the Encyclopedia of Banking Law, edited by Peter Cresswell et al.) was all the market could bear, Sweet & Maxwell have retained the hardcover format, which in my view is a mistake. Developments are moving so rapidly that a looseleaf format would have been better for updating, particularly to take into account EEC directives such as the Second Banking Directive and the proposed Investment Services Directive and the related Capital Adequacy Directive. This edition is a little disappointing on its rather thin EEC coverage. Already a supplement is required to deal with the major changes introduced into the areas of company charges and treatment of subsidiaries and the reform of the ultra vires rule, etc., by the Companies Act 1989.

Major changes in this edition are a new set of opening chapters dealing with the complex regulatory framework now in place—the Banking Act 1987, and, as they touch on banking, the Companies Act 1985, the Financial Services Act 1986, the Insurance Companies Act 1982 and the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In view of the conversion of the Abbey National to a bank, the segment of building societies might have included a discussion of the “conversion process”—particularly as these new banks promise to be a haven of profitability compared