The US-Swiss deal giving the Internal Revenue Service access to 4,450 secret accounts came after bitter wrangling that even put their bilateral ties in jeopardy.
After extending billions of dollars to protect themselves from the economic turmoil, the US moved to arrest the trend of exorbitant pay among the nation's big entities like Citigroup, Bank of America and American International Group.
Banks completed a full circle in 2008, as famed lenders from New York to Tokyo turned beggars who lined up for bailouts from their respective governments.