Read more: Can Davos stem the crisis?

Tackling the global economic downturn is first and foremost on the minds of policymakers such ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet. "We must organise oversight on global macroeconomic policies," he said at the Davos forum in Switzerland. "This is necessary if we don't want to see periods like this when the world economy is unusually weak."

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet

Another idea doing the rounds in the US at the moment is that of a central government-run bank that would get rid of toxic assets from financial institution. However, this proposal has been excluded by the new US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley's Asia Chairman

For Joseph Ackermann, head of Deutsche Bank, governments need clear exit strategies if they invest in private banks to stem the financial crisis. "The crisis is too big for individual banks to cope with. Capital injections by governments have been necessary," he said. "But it is important that governments have clear exit strategies and do not try to run banks."

Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann