The World Economic Forum: A multistakeholder platform for engaging the financial services industry and its role during the global economic crisis

Abstract

As the effects of the financial crisis continue to unfold, the world faces serious challenges to capital markets and the global economy. As aggregate demand falls, there is still a significant risk of a global recession that will affect many sectors. The crisis has demonstrated that efforts limited to specific institutions or jurisdictions are insufficient to address a problem that is global in scope. It has also highlighted the need to improve risk management strategies at both the system-wide and institutional levels in the financial services industry. Given the global nature of the financial and economic turmoil, new approaches and solutions are required to restore confidence to markets and ensure an effective long-term response. Since the beginning of the crisis in 2008, the World Economic Forum has — through its unique multistakeholder platform of engaging businesses, governments and civil society — organised numerous initiatives aimed at dealing with the sources and implications of the crisis, as well as how to mitigate the risk of a recurrence of the failures of the past. The aim of all these initiatives is to address the following question: What can the financial services industry do to better monitor, manage and maintain the resilience of the financial system?