Most banks are woefully underprepared to comply with the operational risk aspects of the Basel II Accord, and risk losing out because of inefficient systems, according to Giles Bryan, director of strategic consulting at GFT UK, the systems integration consultancy.

It is further evidence that a cutback in technology spending in the financial sector is putting institutions at risk from contravening regulatory requirements and preventing them from responding to increased pressure from clients to be more operationally efficient. New research from UBS Warburg has said IT spending in 2003 would be well below normal trends.