A select number of personalities from public authorities and from the international banking community examine in this book major risks encountered by the global banking system and reflect on means of mastering them. Their analysis and evaluations have constituted the basis of intensive exchanges at the Second Interantional Banking Colloquium, hosted by the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) - viz. the School of Management and Economics - of the University of Lausanne. On that occasion, some 100 top policy - and decision-makers from all continents participated in an informal, frank and exhaustive discussion of issues of primary importance to all concerned with the safety and stability of the banking sector. The contents of this book testify to the exceptionally high quality of exchanges held at the Colloquium. It ends with the editor's paper which focusses on major issues raised by representatives of the world banking sector at the Colloquium.