Around the world, companies have been following the European crisis with helpless fascination, trying to assess the potential impact on their businesses, write Ed Crooks and Jeremy Lemer.

Many executives expect a recession in Europe, and are revising market projections accordingly. More immediately, they are examining how a break-up of the euro might affect their financial health. Holdings in money market funds that might be invested in European banks, and the sovereign debt of eurozone countries – once seen as low-risk assets – are the focus of the greatest scrutiny.

Craig Martin of the US Association for Financial Professionals, says there has been “concern and angst” among American companies about the safety of their assets, and some have been cutting their exposure to eurozone financial risk. “Most of the companies I know have been very diligent about looking at their money market funds that might be invested in European funds,” he says. “They are trying to be as safe as possible.”