Chief risk officers at the world's financial institutions are unlikely to look back fondly on 2008. Within little more than a year, the international financial system had been brought to the brink of collapse following five years of unprecedented growth. And while there were many actors to blame for the situation - not least a combination of negligent lending, irresponsible borrowing and unrestrained economic expansion - poor management of risk was widely seen as an important culprit.

As financial institutions, regulators, central banks and governments look to the future, there is certain to be a careful reappraisal of the role and responsibilities of risk management.

In this research, which is written by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by ACE, KPMG, SAP and Towers Perrin, we examine the lessons that have been learnt from the current financial crisis, and propose ten practical lessons that could help to address perceived weaknesses in risk identification, assessment and management.