Bank and capital markets chiefs are bullish about better days ahead, according to a new survey.

But the survey also showed that they feel they face challenges — including over-regulation, cyber risk and fresh competition for business including the crowdfunding phenomenon, funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, usually through the internet.

The speed of technological change and shifts in consumer spending behaviour also caused concern in the sector.

The survey — by financial services firm PwC — said that 92 per cent of banking and capital markets CEOs were “optimistic” about growth prospects over the next three years.

But only 43 per cent said they expected global economic growth to improve over the next year, compared to 56 per cent last year.

And fears about over-regulation have risen nine per cent to 89 per cent over the same time period, while the top risk (79 per cent) was cyber attacks.

The perceived threat from new competitors — like technology, communications and other financial services sectors — worried 53 per cent of top managers, a significant rise on the 32 per cent recorded in 2014.

PwC Bermuda managing director for assurance Tom Miller said: “This year’s survey findings are consistent with the priorities for our banking and capital markets clients in Bermuda — finding growth in a challenging environment, driving productivity and getting ahead of risk and regulatory management.”

PwC’s global banking and capital markets leader Robert Sullivan said: “New market entrants are attempting to disrupt existing models, largely by better-serving customer needs at distinct points of the value chain.

“For example, crowdfunding — offering new lending and deposit opportunities and payments innovation — making transactions more convenient.

“They are using technology to provide a better customer experience at a lower cost, unencumbered by a legacy infrastructure or business models.”

And a massive 93 per cent of CEOs in the sector said that mobile technology as being “critical” for the future to allow them to move from traditional branches to mobile devices.

That compared to 81 per cent across all sectors who cited mobile technologies as a major factor.

The survey quizzed 177 banking and capital markets chiefs in 54 countries, carried out as part of a global look across a range of business sectors.