Land of giants

Canada's banking community comprises a small group of very large banks. Working together, and with their sole, principles-focused regulators, this tightly-knit, risk averse group has avoided the worst of the financial crisis and taken internal op risk management to new levels.

Canada and the US might have the longest shared border on earth, but the North American neighbours are poles apart in terms of the composition of their banking communities, regulatory environments and the evolution of operational risk under Basel II. The performance of the two jurisdictions in the financial crisis also contrasts greatly: the global tightening of credit markets has shown Canada's financial institutions to be some of the strongest in the world while those of the US have suffered