Sliding stock prices, another bank scandal and a worrying global outlook will give leaders of Europe's four biggest economies plenty to talk about on Tuesday but concrete measures to soothe troubled markets are unlikely.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the London summit to discuss the credit crunch weeks ago but the stakes are much higher now as recession looms in the U.S. and policymakers struggle to restore a frightened public's confidence.
The U.S. Federal Reserve last week was forced into making the biggest interest rate cut in quarter of a century and French bank Societe Generale announced the biggest rogue trading loss in history - 4.9 billion euros (3.6 billion pounds).
Berlin, however, already said on Monday the meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi will make no substantive announcements.
Nor will the leaders use the meeting to establish a common position ahead of next week's Group of Seven meeting in Tokyo, said an Italian government source. Wrangling over exchange rates will be left to the finance ministers and central bankers there.
In any case, Britain rarely sees eye-to-eye with its continental neighbours on how to police international markets.
So instead, the leaders will look at what effect the market turmoil that started last summer will have on the real economy and what can be done to prevent such events in the future.
More transparency will be the most likely watchword - making it easier to account for the increasingly sophisticated products the financial markets create and sell.
Also for discussion will be how to beef up institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to focus more on crisis prevention, rather than resolution.
