1 An easy one to begin with. This year's Lord Mayor of London is: a) Owen Luder b) Ian Luder or c) Victor Ludorum.

2 It has not been a good year, and October was arguably the most awful month. Who said, rather longer ago: “October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.”

3 Which political figure was criticised by those living in a village he chose for his title on the grounds that they would really rather have nothing to do with him?

4 Dead retailers. Which furniture retailer's flat pack finally collapsed in the autumn?

5 Name another furniture chain, known for its idiosyncratic range of vaguely ethnic goods?

6 This famously grumpy knight of the realm was left embarrassed after buying a stake in pre-collapse Woolworths.

7 Another knight, who used to run the chain and emerged briefly as a possible buyer?

8 A third potential rescuer, known for his fire-breathing TV appearances?

9 Who looked at buying up large chunks of the high street owned by distressed Icelandic banks?

10 Iceland's biggest bank is, or was, Kaupthing. What does this mean in Icelandic?

11 And, for another point, what is the capital of Iceland?

12 In January Jérôme Kerviel was unveiled as a rogue trader who cost Société Générale, his employer, €4.9billion. What was the Financial Services Authority's suggestion to prevent any recurrence?

13 To HBOS. Which two Scottish grandees, one a former boss there, tried to head off the Lloyds TSB rescue with one of their own?

14 Another Scottish grandee, and once head of the country's biggest brewer, had to deny an interest in helping to rescue the bank. Who was he?

15 Our last man was supposed to be teamed up with which Scottish financial services entrepreneur, who claimed the backing of a mysterious “international financial institution”.

16 Which social trend did Majestic Wine blame for the loss of a quarter of its profits?

17 What do the following have in common, other than overpriced merchandise? Hermès, Bulgari and Theo Fennell.

18 In November Bank Governor Mervyn King said the British economy faced its toughest time since a) the late 1970s b) the early 1930s or c) the early 1990s?

19 When was the Bank of England arguably guilty of creating a false market, and in whose shares?

20 A former British ambassador was fined for insider trading. Where was his most colourful posting?

21 Which most inappropriately named trade union spent most of the year engaged in a feud between its joint leaders?

22 Who tried to regain control of the firm he founded and force it to pay dividends for the first time?

23 Namesakes: where did a famous footballer face off to a top darts player?

24 Which chairman of a FTSE 100 company was compared to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, during a rather heated exchange with his Russian business partners?

25 What was the motto of GuestInvest, the hotel company whose investors lost their shirts when it went into administration?

26 The families of which Broadway musicals composers put the rights to their works up for auction?

27 Which business became, briefly, the world's biggest company by market capitalisation, and why?

28 Which United States broker claimed in April that a $4 billion capital raising was not actually necessary but done purely to reassure nervous shareholders, raised several billion more over the following months and then filed for bankruptcy in September?

29 Which critic of President Bush's economic policies won the Nobel prize for economics?

30 How much did JPMorgan originally offer per share for Bear Stearns, before chief executive Jamie Dimon took pity on weeping Bear staff and upped his offer to ten dollars?

31 Where exactly was Dick Fuld within the Lehman Brothers building when he was reportedly punched in the face by a less-than-happy employee?

32 And now for some quotes. Who said, when asked whether his internet company had been in takeover talks with AOL: “I could tell you but I'd have to kill you.”

33 Who remarked: “If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down.”

34 Who commented to the financial press: “Once you get away from London and the City, the mood music is very different. It's not the doom and gloom you get from people working in property and in financial services. Sentiment is by no means as negative elsewhere.”

35 Who stated: “To a bystander like me, those who made £190 million deliberately underselling the shares of HBOS in spite of a very strong capital base, and drove it into the arms of Lloyds TSB, are clearly bank robbers and asset strippers.”

36 This, at the end of 2007: “The fact is that we have a strong broad-based business. We are positive about our business mix ... we are optimistic about the long-term prospects.”

37 “I am confident that XXXX's strong balance sheet and product and geographic diversification leave us well-positioned to serve our clients and realise opportunities in these challenging markets.”

38 “The people of XXXX came together as never before to lead the firm and our clients through this challenging environment.”

39 And finally, the husband of a well-known City figure wrote: “Carefully she removed her skirt, revealing a black suspender belt, but no knickers.” Who was he?