As a result of the increased competition, lending margins have been placed under greater pressure, and several banks have had to expand their businesses and enter markets with slightly higher credit-risk profiles. Currently, the major banks offer a wide range of services to both individual and corporate customers.
To be sure, energy issues present policymakers and citizens with difficult tradeoffs to consider and decisions to make outside the market process. The concentration of oil reserves in politically volatile areas of the world is an ongoing concern.