Banks' back offices were exposed by the recent crisis as inefficient, lacking in scalability and ripe for increased regulatory scrutiny. Policy-makers and regulators, meanwhile, began to call for the creation of centralised industry utilities, in a bid to reduce the systemic risk associated with the trading, processing and clearing of a variety of complex products.

Danièle Nouy, secretary-general of the Banque de France's Banking Commission

Distinguishing between banks' funds and shareholders' equity has become increasingly difficult as the rise of hybrid capital instruments has introduced grey areas to the financial sector. Writer Charles Piggott

Product innovation may have stalled under the threat of tougher regulations from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but the major players still have plenty of good ideas to offer, writes Suzanne Miller.

The competitive landscape has been redrawn by the crisis, with collapsed firms being snapped up and others retrenching. Commercial banks are taking a larger piece of the pie, writes Suzanne Miller.

As US regulators set about tightening the rules on commodity derivatives trading, banks fear the changes may do more harm than good. Geraldine Lambe reports.

Although Greece currently has the lowest sovereign rating in the eurozone and the highest budget deficit ratio, its membership was enough to reassure investors that its 15-year issue in November was a safe bet. Writer Edward Russell-Walling

Moody's says defaults will peak this year, but distressed debt investors say the default trend has only just begun. Writer Suzanne Miller

BNP Paribas' acquisition of Fortis has considerably increased the size of the bank's Corporate & Investment Banking arm's balance sheet. The French bank says now is the time to use it to win advisory business.