To help frame the discussion of what banks should do (see Section 3, ‘Six Priorities for 2020’), we first consider the macro-trends that are shaping the global financial landscape, building upon PwC’s substantial research effort in this area, Project Blue*. We framed this research around the following seven trends: global instability, demographic change, technological change, social and behavioural change, the rise and interconnectivity of the emerging markets, the rise of state-directed capitalism and the war for natural resources.