Report highlights improved safety of global capital markets

Global capital markets institutions are safer now than they were before the 2008 financial crisis, according to a report released Thursday.

The survey from Broadridge, a leading capital markets technology company, found that a majority, 68 percent, of analysts questioned believed that new regulations since the 2008 financial crisis had brought stability to financial markets.

A majority of analysts, 61 percent, expected regulatory pressures on global securities firms to grow over the next five years.

There was a marked geographical difference in the response of analysts, reflecting different regulatory regimes and the extent to which they had implemented new regulations since 2008.

Among analysts based in the United States, just 39 percent believed that regulatory pressures would increase, and 78 percent said that the financial system was more stable now.

However, in Europe, where the full impact of the new Basel III regulations on banks is yet to be felt, 67 percent of analysts said regulatory pressure would increase and 67 percent said that the financial system was more stable.

Speaking at a launch for the report in central London, Philip Augar, a commentator on financial markets, said, "Financial institutions have to engage with regulators, there is no point in seeing them as the enemy."

"I see a difference between the US and the UK and Europe. I think the level of regulatory intervention is probably there (already) where it will end up. In Europe and in the UK there is still more work to be done in terms of toughening up stress tests, in terms of achieving consistent modelling. There is a catch-up that has got to happen in the UK and Europe," he added.

Broadridge surveyed both sellside and buyside analysts across the globe to produce the report. Endit