In the FSA's 450-page report on the near-collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland, swathes of "imperfect decisions" are highlighted along with advice on how to do things better next time. Financial News has gone through the report to come up with a checklist of the most important lessons to be learnt in handling a collapsing bank – and how to avoid getting there in the first place.

The first five important lessons are aimed at banks, and their executive board, that want to make a splash on the world stage. The second five are some of the main ones that the FSA highlighted as potential contributory factors.