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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
Executives view high taxation as the biggest threat to North American business, according to a study that Lloyd’s of London released Wednesday.
North American executives cited cyber risk, loss of customers/canceled orders, changing legislation and inflation as the next four top risks facing their organizations, according to Lloyd’s Risk Index 2013.
When the study last was conducted, in 2011, taxation ranked just 15th on executives’ list of risk concerns, Lloyd’s noted.
Loss of customers/canceled orders was the top concern in 2011.
The risk index surveyed 558 executives across the world during April and May. Respondents were questioned about 50 risks across five categories.
Thirty-one percent of the respondents were from the Asia-Pacific region, 28% from Europe, 26% from North America, 10% from Latin America and 5% from South Africa.
High taxation was the No. 1 concern globally, the study showed, followed by loss of customers/canceled orders, cyber risk, price of material inputs and excessively strict regulation.
“With business tax in the spotlight and rising up the political agenda, executives are understandably concerned,” Lloyd’s CEO Richard Ward said in a statement. “Yet the danger is that an emphasis on near-term, operational issues comes at the expense of significant, strategic decisions that have previously exercised business leaders,” he said.
“With the timetable for global economic recovery likely to be much longer than we hoped, a focus on long-term sustainability and effective risk management should be a priority for boards across the world,” he said.
The study can be viewed here.