Navigating the crisis: a survey of the world’s largest banks
Just as we set out to conduct our second annual survey on risk governance, the global economic downturn was building momentum. On the day of the survey’s final interview, the Dow ended its most volatile session ever during the worst week in its history. The financial community is still reeling from the impact of recent events. Some of the banks we interviewed no longer exist. As one executive put it, “A year ago, no one would have believed that commercial paper would dry up. The whole idea of banks being taken over on a weekend – it was not imaginable.”
The unimaginable can and did happen. As we conducted our interviews from May through early October 2008, respondents’ attitudes shifted from analysis and detachment to amazement and disbelief at the speed with which the crisis progressed.
We’ve summarized some of the key findings of the survey below.
Top priority: creating a risk-aware culture: The survey revealed that the vast majority of banks lack a consolidated view of risk across their organization. With this weakness in risk management laid bare by the economic crisis, banks are being forced to improve their risk governance processes, increase the collaboration between risk and finance functions, and make instilling a risk culture a true priority.
Top six lessons learned by global banks
Slideshow: Eight critical steps for holistic risk governance. Learn how banks are measuring up.
Download the report: Get your complete copy of Navigating the crisis: a survey of the world's largest banks.
Survey snapshot: Credit crunch heightens focus on risk convergence The credit crisis has driven many financial services executives to intensify their focus on risk convergence and risk management. In this survey, conducted in partnership with OpRisk & Compliance, we reveal how firms are adapting, and we lend perspective to the work that remains to be done.
