Australian business faces increased regulatory risk

The Allianz Risk Barometer 2014 – which is compiled off the back of a survey of 400 risk consultants, insurance underwriters, senior managers and claims experts at Allianz’s global ‘corporate and specialty’ business – found that for Australian businesses, changes in regulation and legislation are a highly ranked risk, second only to “business interruption and supply chain risk”.

The finding indicates an increasing concern among businesses about regulatory change, given that ‘regulation risk’ has moved up from being the 8th ranked risk in 2013.

According to an Allianz statement reflecting on the results, “for Australian business, regulatory change is regarded as a higher risk than natural catastrophes, cyber crime, and loss of reputation or brand value (e.g. from social media), even though the latter two have been trending higher up the rankings compared to last year”.

Allianz Australia's managing director, Niran Peiris, said the survey “highlights the increasing complexity of business risks, including a combination of new technological, economic and regulatory risks, potentially creating a systemic threat for businesses”.