Barclays built a multi-asset execution platform out of the Lehman acquisition, and the debt specialist in the bank’s two-man management team for global finance in the EMEA region is relishing the opportunity to deploy that platform if merger and acquisition activity picks up.

Higher volumes than before the financial crisis and a growing number of heavyweight currencies are attracting investment banks, but the global foreign exchange pie may not be large enough for everyone to have a slice.

The regulations implementing the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into US law in 2010 in response to the G-20's global financial regulatory reform agenda, are being written, and banks do not like what they see.

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?