Hi there,

I dont work in finance but have worked in multiple sectors incluiding Banking, Entertainment, Sales and currently work in Healthcare.
The most important questions to ask during the initial meetins of any requirements elicitation workshops are crucial and I normally start of with the following

* What is the overall business need?
* Has an attempt been made to introduce a change to an already existing manual process or operational proces?
* Timescales
* Technical infrastucture

Try and understand the current process and develop an AS-IS and TO-BE Business Process Models (These could be high level activity diagrams which show process, events and decisions) If you are dealing with a non-technical audience then always AVOID to go straight into design mode, (i.e. by using words such as screen, tabbing order, drop down box, validations, business logic etc)

The best way is to try and visualise in your head what the current process is, and document this.
Afte that, one people can see it for themselves, requireemnts will flow and change requests will come in, but you as the business analyst must understand the current concept and methodology before even attempting to capture or provide a technical solution.

Hope that helped!

Jason