The banking industry’s relatively benign experience with loan losses these past few years may not be surprising given that the recession was mild by most measures.
The experience is more notable, however, when one considers the broader range of shocks and developments that have occurred  BIS Review 22/2004  1  during this period, including the September 11 attacks, Argentina’s credit default, the continuing shift by large and not-so-large firms in this country from bank to capital market financing, and the concentration of recent economic pressures on specific industries and business sectors.