Capturing the world's large unbanked market will require an innovative approach. Are banks up to the challenge or will technology companies beat them to it?

The International Monetary Fund seems to have one set of rules for developing countries and another entirely for developed economies. And neither is particularly effective.

Banks are being charged by governments with preventing financial crime. Given the cost and complexity of this task, the only way they can effectively manage this new role is by utilising new third-party databases and information exchanges.

The political and economic discord resonating across Europe makes regional integration, in the form of the EU or the eurozone, completely unworkable. Nevertheless these ill-thought out unions are carrying on regardless, threatening to do more harm than good.

A regulatory over-reaction to allegations of gold market manipulation could deal a fatal blow to the commodities trading desks of investment banks that are already in retreat.

​For years the conventional thinking was that economies where banking assets fell below the level of GDP were emerging whereas economies with banking assets two or three times the size of GDP were acknowledged as advanced. That was before the crisis.

There is a lot of hope pinned on India's newly elected prime minister Narendra Modi. But, with so many economic – not to mention social and political – problems to be tackled, can he live up to expectations?