Banking Banana Skins 2012

This report, produced by the Centre for Study for Financial Innovation (CSFI) and sponsored by PwC, describes the risk outlook for the banking industry at the turn of the year 2012 – a time of unprecedented stress in the financial markets. The findings are based on responses from more than 700 bankers, regulators and close observers of the banking scene in 58 countries.

This is the third time this survey has come out against the backdrop of a crisis for financial services, starting in May 2008 in the wake of the earlier stages of the credit crisis, then again in the post-Lehman period, and now with the world facing fresh uncertainties. While the latest set of risks may have the same origins as the earlier ones, this survey shows that many people view them as potentially more challenging. The move from a banking crisis to a broader set of economic, regulatory and political risks presents a new set of challenges to bank management, especially as banks must, in many cases, respond to pressures outside their immediate control.