More than a year has elapsed since the fall of Lehman but many of the fears that gripped service providers in the sub-custody field then – and perhaps, more importantly, their clients – remain just as real. The term ‘risk management’ remains firmly etched into the collective consciousness of all with security concerns still paramount.

Yet after a nervy start, 2009 saw a fairly steady recovery as asset prices drifted upwards to former levels. For the most part, the bad news petered out towards the end of the year, with high-growth Asia powering much of the recovery.

Some places, notably the central and eastern European region, remain in poor shape, but even the more developed economies of Europe, and those in North America, were experiencing some, albeit modest, growth in the latter months of 2009.

Even the Dubai debt explosion at the...