A new era for Italian op risk

Italian bankers are catching up with international standards of risk management, with a little encouragement from Basel II.

Italy's banking sector is entering a new era in terms of its attitude towards risk management. Bankers now consider good operational risk management to be essential for delivering improved return on equity for shareholders.

By Oonagh Leighton

Basel II is also encouraging Italian bankers to adopt more sophisticated practices in order to meet the higher standards being adopted globally.

As in most markets, bigger banks are leading the way. A survey by the Bank of Italy on op risk practices at