The work identifies current and future changes in the international banking system, and considers the effect of these changes on regulation and on banking stability. In order to provide the proper context for the discussion, the authors begin with a review of certain salient events and changes of the 1970s, analysing the processes that have been set in motion and lessons to be learned. Several hypotheses about the future of international banking with regards to general trends and new directions are then offered. Four possible events of the 1980s and their ramifications for the banking system are then considered. Finally, the authors propose four actions for bank regulators in order to prepare for the coming landscape in which technology and banking sophistication will allow many new entrants into the field of wholesale banking. JEL: G21, G28