The year 2009 will change the face of the financial services industry. If 2008 was the “unmasking” of all the scum and dirt left behind by poor management, lieing cheats, and corporate greed, 2009 represents the “Year of the Makeover”.

Here are just some of my predictions of the new face of the international marketplace:

1 – Banks will be obliged to issue public reports regarding their balance sheets, both to regulators and to their clients. This is not as a favour, but as an obligation. Your bank doesn’t trust you (they ask for credit checks), you shouldn’t trust them either.

2- The stock market exchanges around the world will adapt a new four-decimal system that will better evaluate the worth of companies with the most trading volume. This will have a positive effect on discovering the true value of their assets.

3 – Small family-owned businesses will begin to get scooped up by bigger, but less qualified, entrepeneurs that are looking to consolidate their business. Look for some extreme M&A activity in the clothing, retail, banking and auto industries to fight off potential losses. Far from being knocked out, these qualified professionals will be haled by cash-in-hand investors from the Arab and Indian world.

4- We will see the creation of a new worldwide authority that will hold countries accountable for the performance, and above all, behaviour of the players in their marketplaces. This will be, of course, a REGULATOR of all Regulators.

5 – China and the EU will team up once again – not against the dollar this time round, but to invite cheaper labour into the European markets and increase productivity levels.

6 – New York will officially disappear from the top of the list of the most popular international business centers, and will be replaced by Dubai, at least among non-American countries.

7 – The city of Chicago will reclaim lost privileges and replace New York at the top of the list as number 1 city to do business in the United States.

8 – Barcelona will knock off Madrid as the number one city to do business in Spain, but not for the reasons you might expect.

9 – International Business Air Travel will dissapear as an industry, witnessing the massive closures of airlines around the world as new technologies make doing business from home cheaper and more productive.

10 – Europe will embrace telecommuting in all of their industries, not just the telecommunications and technology-related industries, as companies move to cut back budgets in expensive, high-maintenance headquarters and create industrial parks in the suburbs for training facilities.

11- There will be harsh opposition from the British to give up their British sterling, but yes, they will officially adopt the euro.

12- There will be a massive comeback of Internet-based companies, and once again, we will relive the tech bubble all over again until harsh competition separates the men from the boys.

13- Much talk will arise about the disappearance of world currencies and the establishment of a single, unique currency for world commerce – distinct from the euro or the dollar.

14 – Africa will continue to reach rock-bottom situations until finally the “rest of the world” comes up with a plan, headed up by Sarkozy and Barack Obama with Zapatero in the shadows to end world hunger. Many singers will sing and dance and make more money, and nothing will be done about anything and conditions will worsen still.

15- China, India and the Arab League will dictate and control the flow of goods and services around the world, as Australia reclaims lost ground in the area of research and investigation.