There may be hints of interest in a wider, regulatory reform agenda in the sphere of financial services in a speech delivered yesterday in Sydney by Australia's finance minister, Lindsay Tanner.In a talk that is largely a straightforward recap on the origins and local history of the recent financial crisis, Tanner works up to calling for "a regulatory regime that's appropriate for 2010 and beyond, not one that simply reinvents the past."Tanner does not really explain what's appropriate, but does spell out a couple of features.One is to reiterate a popular theme among global politicians over the last year, such as "rebuilding financial regulation on a global scale, enhancing transparency and increasing capital adequacy requirements."With Australia's big banks earning bragging rights two years into the crisis as some of the most stable and profitable in the world, there is also agitation among smaller lenders and policy wonks over the implications of the consolidation of the industry and the apparatus of government support - such as guarantees over liabilities - put in place nine months ago.In vague language Tanner said that "for global capital markets to function efficiently, they must be based on a relational framework that sustains trust. "But perhaps the most important lesson to take from the crisis is the need to build institutional and regulatory frameworks which fit the modern economy. "We must accept that the script for the new accommodation between markets and government is yet to be written, and that we have the responsibility for writing it."Tanner said that "its fundamental elements, though, are relatively discernible, and can be captured by a simple phrase: sustainable long-term growth. "This means greater emphasis on education and information technology, more saving and investment, more flexible and adaptive regulation, and diminishing environmental drawdown."