It was 10 years ago this week that US investment bank Lehman Brothers, was allowed to default. This event marked the beginning of the ultimate escalation from a severe credit crunch to a full blown global financial sector meltdown. The shock this caused to businesses, led to the worst global recession since the 1930s. The aftermath is still being felt today, with interest rates and growth rates still not having returned to pre-crisis levels.
To mark this 10th anniversary milestone, reflections pondering ‘could it happen again?’ were aplenty this week. We do not intend to add yet another such article to the pile. Instead we would like to provide a perhaps slightly more balanced assessment of where the world of finance differs compared to 10 years ago, where it doesn’t, and what risks and challenges present themselves today.
