The timing of a regulatory shift for banks is uncertain, but not the political intent, writes Hugo Watson Brown.

January 2010 is a useful time to review the regulatory and government responses to the financial crisis of 2007/8. There was a huge amount of work during 2009 as the intentions the G-20 expressed in November 2008 were brought to life. Three G-20 meetings later and countless reports from governments, international organisations and regulatory bodies, including the UK’s Turner Review, point to the end of the first stage of the response to the crisis.