a Skins 2012
‘May you live in interesting times,’
the old curse goes. And bankers are
certainly living in interesting times
– particularly in Europe.
T
he Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation’s
(CSFI) annual Banking Banana Skins survey, produced
in association with professional services firm PwC,
places macro-economic risk and credit losses at the
top of the list of 30 possible risks to banks globally.
This survey describes the risks currently facing the global banking
industry, as seen by more than 700 bankers, banking regulators and
close observers of the banking scene in 58 countries around the
world – including seven from South Africa – and ranks 30 risks
according to their severity. The questionnaire comprises three parts.
In the first, respondents are asked to describe, in their own words,
their main concerns about the financial system over the next two to
three years. In the second, they are asked to score a list of potential
risks, or Banana Skins, selected by a CSFI/PwC panel. In the third,
they are asked to rate the preparedness of financial institutions to
handle the risks they have identified.
The main cause of anxiety is the Eurozone debt crisis, which
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