In the wake of the great financial crisis of 2008 the practices of the entire global financial services industry came into question, leading to close scrutiny from all parts of society-the government, the media, and the man on the street. Everyone is re-thinking the best way forward for the financial sector. The stakes are high: should trends in the industry continue and financial innovations allow fallout in the next crisis to grow exponentially, the endgame could be the sort of mutually assured destruction that topples entire economies. Charting the way forward in financial services reform requires a fundamental reappraisal of how things are done in order to avert disaster in the near future. "Banks at Risk" complies the insights of 10 key figures in the financial services industry-regulators, commercial bankers, risk managers and infrastructure specialists - who look at both strategic and operational issues in their assessment of cleansing the rot from the financial services industry in order to move to a better system of properly-managed risk. These influential individuals possess a valuable storehouse of global knowledge, and their insights into what the financial services industry needs to do to avoid the mistakes of the past are instrumental in building a sustainable future. In print for the first time, contributors to "Banks at Risk" are: contributing to "Banks at Risk" with their own chapters, many of them committing their thoughts to print for the first time are: Liu Mingkang, the chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission; Eric Rosengren, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; Joel Werkama, Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; Jane Diplock, former Chairperson of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions and the former head of New Zealand's securities commission; Jose Maria Roldan, head of banking supervision at the Bank of Spain; Jesus Saurina, Director, Financial Stability Department, Bank of Spain; Dick Kovacevich, former Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo Bank; Mike Smith, CEO, ANZ Group, who was previously also the head of HSBC's Asia Pacific operations; Shan Weijian, CEO, Chairman and CEO of Pacific Alliance Group and former senior partner of TPG Capital; Rob Close, former CEO, CLS Group; Tham Ming Soong, Chief Risk Officer, United Overseas Bank in Singapore; and, Tsuyoshi Oyama, former head of risk assessment division in the international affairs division of the Bank of Japan. Some praise from the financial services industry for "Banks at Risk": "The crisis revealed a pressing need for better bank governance and risk management along with enhanced supervision and regulation. The Basel III framework-which substantially strengthens bank capital adequacy and introduces liquidity requirements as well as specific supervisory tools to address systemic risk-was a rapid and decisive response, yet much work remains to be done. Beyond the full, timely and consistent global implementation of Basel III, important issues that need to be addressed include systemically important financial institutions, effective cross-border resolution regimes and shadow banking. "Banks at Risk" provides unique insights into what went wrong and why. More importantly, it contributes to the ongoing debate on how to mitigate the severity and likelihood of future crises". (Jaime Caruana, General Manager, Bank for International Settlements). "This is a timely and comprehensive study of risks facing the global banking industry. The book draws on the expertise of top banking experts: commercial bankers, central bankers, regulators and risk experts from China, Japan, the U.S. and other parts of the world to give the reader a comprehensive view of challenges facing the international banking industry. The contributors clearly set out the challenges facing regulators and market participants in this uncertain environment.