Typhoon winds and rain, the first anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ demise and the cancellation of the usually lavish end-of-conference party, failed to dampen the tough talk over regulation, banking co-operation and innovation in Hong Kong at the annual Sibos event last week.

The conference and exhibition, which was last year overshadowed by news of Lehman's collapse, marked the gathering of the biggest hitters in the financial industry - from investment banks, stock exchanges, regulators, custodians, asset managers, clearing houses and technology firms.