Crises always accelerate the process of change. Two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, it is not surprising that signs of a deep transformation in the financial landscape are visible. Two main driving forces are at work.
The first is a different perception of risk. The optimistic view that the level of risk in the system could be offset by dispersion was wiped out by the crisis. The result has been a re-pricing of risk of all sorts, reflected in higher volatility, lower asset valuations, more careful examination of credit quality and greater attention to the longer-term sustainability of debt positions, as highlighted by the recent sovereign debt crisis in Europe. Markets no longer reward instruments for complexity and opacity. Yet, welcome as these changes are, they offer no assurance against complacency.
This is why we also need a stronger regulatory framework, and that is the second major source of change. After Lehman, any remaining doubts on the need profoundly to reform the financial sector were dispelled.