The crisis that originated from the US subprime mortgage market escalated into a global phenomenon. Earlier debates on “decoupling” died down as the crisis’ contagion effects proved headstrong, cascading to the financial markets of advanced and emerging economies and unleashing a full-blown systemic crisis. Aside from causing huge wealth destruction, this development eroded confidence in financial institutions and markets worldwide, causing intensified concerns over liquidity, as well as a plethora of bankruptcies, forced mergers and massive monetary intervention from financial authorities, thereby leading to a drastically reshaped financial landscape.

In the case of the Philippines, the conservative attitude of Philippine banks led to only marginal exposure to derivatives/structured products. Adequate information disclosure practices and the implementation of banking reforms are now yielding fruit, particularly in terms of better risk management and consolidated supervision. These have contributed to the limited impact of the crisis on Philippine financial markets.