Bahrain's reputation as a banking hub, built on decades of solid governance, hangs in the balance.
The demonstrations last year led many firms to relocate offices and staff elsewhere in the region with many bankers heading to Dubai.
Fitch Ratings said in a report released last week that with the events of the Arab Spring fading from view, Bahrain's financial sector remained "relatively unaffected" but it would not take much for that to change.
"Continual allegations of political repression would ... further damage Bahrain's image as a business friendly destination, with potential negative spillovers to key industries such as the banking sector," analysts from the ratings agency wrote. Many bankers see that assessment as overly sanguine, saying the protestshave already ended Bahrain's hopes to rival Dubai as the Arabian Gulf's banking capital.
Bahrain got its start as a financial hub when Lebanese bankers fleeing their country's 1975 to 1990 civil war found the island to be a good home and many have remained ever since.
They formed a hotchpotch of banks and investment houses, built on traditional qualities of personal reputation, nationality and connections.
The kingdom's government now says Bahrain needs to urgently specialise its financial sector towards specific fields rather than acting as a jack-of-all-trades banking hub.
In the past, global investment banks used Manama as an offshore centre to recycle wholesale funds into projects throughout the Gulf. The kingdom's banking system is 7.8 times the size of Bahrain's entire economy.
The number of financial services firms has continued to increase in the Gulf state this year. A total of 417 financial firms are registered with Bahrain's central bank, up from 401 in 2010.
Recent arrivals include Pine-Bridge Investments, an asset management firm formerly an arm of the bailed-out American International Group, and Notz Stucki, an asset manager based in Geneva.
But while some mid-sized firms are finding advantages in setting up in Bahrain, the giants of investment banking are beating a retreat to elsewhere in the Gulf.
Departing banks include Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Standard Chartered's chief executive has relocated to Abu Dhabi to head the firm's UAE business, while BNP Paribas, the European lender with the biggest presence in Bahrain, retains its regional headquarters with a slimmed-down staff and an increased presence in Dubai. Despite that, the bank has opted to remain in Bahrain, said Jean-Christophe Durande, the chief executive for the Middle East and Africa at BNP Paribas.
"The fact that we have our headquarters here is a decision which was made 10 years ago because of the quality of the supervisory authorities," he said, ruling out a move.
It is increasingly small domestic lenders, not global giants, that are growing in Bahrain's banking sector. Citibank is a rare example of a global bank that has reported an increase in local hiring.
Part of the attraction for Citibank is the quality of staff available among the well-educated Bahraini population, said Mazin Manna, its chief executive in Bahrain.
"There's a wealth of experience that you can draw upon when you want to hire people," he said.
But the wider exodus of bankers has pushed down costs for financial firms setting up shop.
The kingdom's commercial property market was left vastly oversupplied even before the recent bank departures, leaving many high-quality properties now available for a song.
