Both issues are likely to matter more as broking houses continue to shift from selling stocks and bonds, which produce only one-off transaction fees, to selling packaged financial products.

ECONOMIST: Wall Street

It is still possible to pay green fees to tee off at many Vietnamese clubs, and at least one bank has a deal whereby customers can deposit money and get free games at golf courses near the main cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

WSJ: Vietnamese Investors Sink Savings Into Golf Memberships

One way courts could determine appropriate fees would be to auction the work of prosecuting class actions off to the highest bidder.

FORBES: Corporate Lawyers Scratch Their Heads Over Citi Class-Action Fees

It would be better if fees for ongoing services were treated as running costs and not rolled-up in a one-off charge on shareholders, he says.

ECONOMIST: Investment-banking fees