Who does the finance sector blame?

Just a quick plug for the survey of finance people done by the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets, a... errr... network of progressive types working in the finance sector. Here's what Responsible Investors has to say about it:

The global response to the credit crisis has actively encouraged moral hazard – the belief that financial services companies will take more risk if they think that governments will step in and bail them out – according to 64% of respondents from the institutional investment industry to a survey by the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets (NSFM). As a result, just 7% of the investment specialists who answered the open survey during October said they believed the response to the crisis should come from government. Half said they thought the financial industry should sort out its own house, while the remaining respondents suggest that other stakeholders such as consumers and international agencies such as the World Bank should push the markets to change. Significantly, in apportioning blame for the credit crisis, the largest number of investment professionals (21%) said they criticised financial industry insiders such as bank leaders, who many said didn’t understand their risk positions and were incentivised to bet big. Just under a fifth (19%) blamed shareholders and/or fund managers who failed to exercise proper governance on companies or understand the risks in their investments.

Politicians and regulators came lower in the blame stakes with 14% pointing the finger their way. Few respondents believe that the crisis will be stemmed by ‘reactive’ government intervention. Instead, half of those answering thought the best response to the crisis would be a 1-2 year global consultation, with the remainder suggesting a medium-term considered view from politicians and regulators.