The events triggered by the 2008 global financial crisis have ushered in a new wave of banking regulation in the United Arab Emirates and led to a greater focus on risk management. While UAE banks now boast some of the highest capitalisation levels in the world, the biggest challenge facing the sector as a whole is that of tightening liquidity.

Kenya’s banks have proved themselves to be among Africa’s savviest and most innovative when it comes to tapping the unbanked market, which has helped them and their profits expand quickly in the past few years. And with a significant proportion of the market still unbanked, not to mention a relatively small number of mortgages in the country, there is still room for further growth.

Malaysia is going through a period of transformation as the government seeks to push the country to developed nation status. The ambitious economic goals, however, are being tested by events further afield and observers are questioning to what degree Malaysia’s growth will be impacted by the troubles of the eurozone. 

With traditional revenue streams taking a hit as a result of new regulations, retail banks in the US face a predicament. Should they risk losing customers by increasing their fees to cover costs, or is there another strategy that will appease shareholders and customers alike?

Kosovo’s highly capitalised and liquid banking sector has benefited from its relative insulation from international markets, but its banks must develop and diversify their activities in order to put their funds to work.

The convergence of regulatory, government and economic forces on the financial sector is unprecedented. If much of the detail has yet to be determined and substantive differences between national authorities still exist, one thing that is certain is that the financial services industry will look very different in a few years' time.

Recent events show that the desire to put in place a global recovery and resolution regime to prevent the kind of government intervention that was required during the financial crisis is very much a work in progress. For banks it requires a tremendous amount of work and unprecedented transparency about their operations. For national regulators, it means forging agreements that bring together disparate insolvency regimes.

Few will deny that bank boards were as culpable as their senior management in failing to spot the dangerous levels of risk building within the banks in the lead-up to the financial crisis. There is clear recognition that things need to change. But changing risk structures, and more importantly, risk cultures, is easier said than done.

The combined and cumulative effects of new regulations and a hostile market environment means banks are fighting to build both capital and liquidity. Many questions remain about banks' ability to do both, and the effects of doing either on economic growth.

Senegal’s banking system is one of Africa’s most competitive. Yet there is plenty of scope for its lenders to expand, thanks to fast economic growth and a large unbanked population. If this rise is managed carefully, Senegal will soon be firmly entrenched as the main banking hub in French-speaking west Africa.