8. Bans and clamps on investment product sales (July 2009)

Financial institutions that mis-sold Lehman-linked products were banned by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) from selling structured notes for periods ranging from six months to two years. And this was only the beginning of more changes to come. In September, MAS introduced more rules for all financial institutions, including a ban on using terms such as 'capital protected' for investment products and a rule forbidding tellers from referring customers to staff selling such products.

At a time when the market was feeling less than generous towards financial institutions, some took the initiative to avoid reputational damage - or gain goodwill - by offering to buy back products hit by the financial crisis. OCBC unit Great Eastern was the first to do so, redeeming its GreatLink Choice products for around $213 million. United Overseas Bank followed by redeeming some units in the Prudential Yield 15 and Yield 20 funds for just over $5 million.

Not only has the crisis changed the way financial institutions market their products, it may also have changed the way they view their customers - all it takes is a bit of proactivity and some financial sacrifice to win longer-term trust.

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