While regulation has remained high on the agenda for financial institutions in 2015, another topic seems to have shot up the list: fintech.

The level of activity has been overwhelming. In the past few months, 30 banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, have joined forces around New York-based start-up R3 to develop common blockchain standards; JP Morgan announced it would tie up with peer-to-peer lender OnDeck to offer small business loans; BlackRock acquired robo adviser FutureAdvisor; and Nasdaq partnered blockchain start-up Chain to implement its technology on the group's market for shares of private companies.