The global financial markets have been rocked by the events of 2008, many of which were next to impossible to predict. But it will be in the coming year that the aftershocks and repercussions of those events start to be realised and shape the future of the industry. Financial News peers into the clearing mists of its crystal ball to predict the big issues for 2009.

•Bank boards will be overhauled More than one and a half years into the global financial crisis, board members are being held accountable for failing to maintain controls while employees chased revenue with little regard for risk. Chief risk officers already have been elevated to the top table - at UBS and Merrill Lynch, for example. Non-executive directors, whose job it is to challenge the board, stand accused of failing to do so, or of lacking the requisite skills - something that RBS and UBS have already tried to rectify. In the UK, the Financial Services Authority is getting more active in its approval all non-executive directorships.