A solid majority of executives from around the world who responded to a new McKinsey survey say the recent reform of the US financial-services industry was a necessary step toward economic stability.¹ There is, however, strong disagreement about the bill’s effect on the competitiveness of financial-services companies.

This perceived step toward stability comes during a summer of regulatory uncertainty, significant regulatory or policy changes in some major economies, and stock market volatility. Through all the uncertainty, executives’ expectations for national economies and corporate prospects at the global level have remained about the same as they were in June: more positive than negative, though less hopeful now than last spring. The most notable difference is that North American executives are now the least positive about current and future conditions.

The results show some other positive indicators. Despite ongoing uncertainty, more than half of all respondents say their companies are not postponing capital investments or M&A, underlining hope for growth at companies of all sizes. And a much smaller share of executives—12 percent compared with the 18 percent of the executives surveyed in June—expect that troubled global markets will overwhelm domestic fundamentals by year end.