Aon’s 11th annual Australasian Risk Survey found that while regulatory and legislative change was the third ranking concern across all industries, for banking and finance it remained at number one.
“I would say that there has been a number of high profile suggested changes to legislation in the sector that have driven that risk concern much higher in that particular board sector as opposed to others,” Aon marketing manager Duncan Khoury told InvestorDaily.
“Changes like the suggested changes to the Privacy Act that are coming through in March 2014 will affect all industries equally with their dealings in regard to customer data.”
The Risk Survey provides a snapshot of the risk management practices of 133 businesses in 19 industries across Australia and New Zealand.
Risk to brand and image was the top ranking concern across all sectors, equal first with market environment/economic slowdown risks.
Aon said that market environment risk is generally ranked between five and 10, but has made its way up seven places in recent years.
“This would suggest that despite relatively strong local performance, organisations now see the economy as a greater risk than they did during the global financial crisis (GFC) and its immediate aftermath,” Aon managing director Jason Disborough said.
“It’s likely that the sheer persistence of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, slower than expected economic growth in China and India and uncertainty surrounding US fiscal policy is taking its toll. Underpinning this may well be concerns about our economy’s reliance on natural resources and the risk of lessening demand from emerging markets.”
