The German Landesbanken were hit hard by the financial crisis, and bailouts at both state and federal level have allowed the national government and the EU to increase the pressure for both restructuring and reform. Writer Michael Marray

Once considered one of the better-placed survivors of the financial crisis, the property bubble bursting in Spain has hit the country's savings banks hard, resulting in calls for consolidation in the sector. Writer Rodrigo Amaral

The UK's regional financial centres are undergoing a financial and cultural renaissance. They are shrugging off the effects of the downturn, establishing themselves as viable alternatives to London and growing in both confidence and maturity. Writer Charlie Corbett

With help from multilateral institutions, transport infrastructure finance deals in the new and aspiring EU members are still being completed, but on much more conservative terms. Writer Philip Alexander

With its seven-year maturity making it the longest for any sukuk drawn up by a Saudi corporate, the $1.9bn capital raising put together for the Saudi Electric Company marks a huge achievement for the HSBC Saudi Arabia team that assembled it. Writer Edward Russell-Walling