Ten years after Lehman’s collapse, these ten risks could cause the next crisis

Quartz: “On Sept. 15, 2008, a credit crunch turned into a full-blown crisis when New York-based investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed. The global recession that followed is still too fresh in many people’s memories to be considered history. But 10 years on, the state of the financial system suggests that the crisis has been relegated to the history books for many in the industry. In 2018, Wall Street is enjoying another heyday. Bonuses for bankers have returned to pre-crisis levels, profits for commercial banks are at a record high, the stock market is in its longest bull run in history, the US economy is humming, and deregulation and tax cuts rule the day in Donald Trump’s administration. Around the world, regulators and policymakers say that measures taken in recent years have made banks safer than ever, with more capital and targeted oversight informed by mistakes made before Lehman went bust. That said, there are still plenty of potentially dangerous risks brewing in the financial system. Aggressive financial engineering in the pursuit of profit is alive and well. Complacency could lead to trouble, as it always does. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority just gave a timely reminder that the onset of a crisis can be sudden. “Most if not all of the firms which failed had been reporting relatively robust financial positions right up to the point when they did fail, with financial statements signed off by their boards and large audit firms,” Charles Randall, chair of the British regulator, said earlier this month. On the 10th anniversary of Lehman’s bankruptcy, these are the things that market watchers believe could cause the next crisis…”