Financial conferences tend to be uncontroversial affairs, especially ones that focus on market infrastructure and payment systems. But there was a subtle shift in tone at the Sibos forum in Hong Kong this week, where the usual business of discussing the intricacies of the world's financial plumbing gave way, albeit occasionally, to soul-searching about the darker side of the financial industry - the part that profits at the expense of society. Joseph Yam, head of Hong Kong's monetary authority, told delegates that bigger profits (and larger bonuses) at financial institutions tended to imply higher costs for their customers. In other words, much financial innovation is really a raw deal for the real economy.

William White, former chief economist at the Bank for International Settlements, argued that after two years of government support for the financial system, we now have a set of banks that are even bigger - and more dangerous - than ever before. That view has been argued by Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. He says that the finance industry has in effect captured the US government and that "recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform".