Next global financial meltdown could strike within five years, poll shows

News - Banking

Written by Ray Clancy

Friday, 15 January 2010 09:24

The next global financial crisis will strike within the first half of this decade as senior banking and compliance officers do not believe regulatory reforms are enough to prevent another meltdown.

Some 77% of the world’s senior banking and compliance officers do not have confidence on the ability of proposed regulations in the wake of the most recent downturn to prevent another crash similar to 2008, according to a survey by Complinet, a global provider of compliance solutions.

It found that the majority of regulatory experts questioned predicted the next significant economic downturn would come before 2015. ‘The continuing lack of company transparency and accountability to the markets and the public makes the possibility of another crisis almost assured,’ said one of the businesses questioned.

The Complinet survey also showed that 91% recognised that the current bonus culture is resented by those outside the financial services industry. Only 40% thought their firm had changed its approach to compensating employees based on a better understanding of risks associated with the business.

However, 62% senior management believe they’re putting the right controls in place. ‘Regulatory reform and implementation of effective compliance solutions are clearly vital to avoid another crash,’ said Paul Johns, vice president of global markets at Complinet.
‘The key message from this survey is financial institutions must ensure they have enough compliance resource to navigate through the regulatory maze and reduce the risk of falling foul of the rules,’ he added.
The survey of 232 global compliance officers was made up of 34% from the banking sector, 9% from insurance, 32% securities, 7% legal and 18% from other sectors of the financial industry.