The financial services industry, long protected by complex regulations, high barriers to entry and economies of scale, is ripe for disruption.

FORBES: Why The Financial Technology Revolution Is Only Just Getting Started

That may always have been true, but more and more it seems like both higher education and financial services are too expensive, too complex, and otherwise broken.

FORBES: Getting Schooled on Education Startups

Not only has banking itself developed into a complex range of financial services, from insurance to home loans, that Islamic banks must synthesize, but Sharia also proscribes involvement in transactions involving alcohol, pork and gambling.

FORBES: A Distant Mirror

Firms, large and small, can call upon all the external services needed to put together a complex financial deal, such as advice from lawyers and accountants, or the use of specialist markets.

ECONOMIST: London as a financial centre

Financial services is an industry that requires deep specific expertise, about the businesses and the complex accounting standards that apply to them.

FORBES: Audit Firm Rotation: Maybe Make A Switch When The Government Takes Over

Risk measurement entails complex correlation analyses and what-if scenarios, and there is a trend among financial services firms to outsource this work, says Morningstar analyst Swami Shanmugasundaram.

FORBES: Magic Formula Stocks