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As in RL, such scams will continue, for the very simple reason that there's no disincentive - whether a bank has one employee or tens of thousands, if the decisions made by those controlling it are aimed primarily at lining their own pockets, the outcome will be the same. The ongoing financial meltdown in RL demonstrates that well - this was nothing unforeseen, not triggered by some fluke event, but designed to yield as heavy a return as possible to those controlling the funds in question, however insanely reckless the underlying logic. Who will be the last to leave said institutions, and if they're somehow forced out, will depart with a golden parachute of tens, or even hundreds, of millions of dollars. How is it in their best interests not to continue? (As related by Bremner, Bird, and Fortune here. I'd say it's a work of satire, but it's a little too close to the truth for that)

The issue isn't whether a bank is "real" or not. Many people happily conduct their banking entirely online, money deposited directly in the account regularly, often debited automatically to keep the telco and utilities happy, and monitored online. Rather, it's an issue common to other online settings, but RL as well - a matter of trust. What confidence do you have that the person you've just given your money to will do what they've claimed? (By the same token, when there are multiple grids, how will Linden Lab be able to be sure that any L$ coming into the grid haven't simply been conjured up by a rogue operator? Most likely very few grids will have such asset transferability, but I'd be surprised if the number counted Linden Lab and no other)

In investment scenarios, it would seem auditing would be the key. Not that even those kinds of safeguards are foolproof, as Enron and Arthur Andersen demonstrated quite well, but for the most part, they're a highly useful tool in developing and maintaining trust.

Whither SL banking? It's dead. I wouldn't mind seeing credit unions coming in, rather than banks, but for now, it's difficult to see the amount of money involved being of any real interest - they'd spend way more simply on investigating the legal issues involved. Still, it's maybe not outside the realms of possibility that one amongst them might set something up as a "hobby" of sorts, offering a safe place to keep one's L$, without incurring the fees involved in shuffling between currencies.