Episodes
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Today’s guests explain where they believe banks and their regulators are going wrong in their efforts to “fix” the sector’s cultural issues.
They detail how lawmakers, financial bosses and their supervisors can best ensure that ongoing and increasing efforts to loosen rules governing behaviour in the industry don’t lead to a repeat of previous banking crises.
And they outline why they believe it is critical that the industry and all its stakeholders take steps now to better understand “the complex behavioural landscape” in which they operate.
Dr. Wieke Scholten is a social and organisational psychologist with a particular focus on the financial services sector. Her 21-year career includes five years as a senior supervisor of behaviour and culture at the Dutch prudential regulator DNB and two years as head of behavioural risk at NatWest.
David Grosse’s 30-year career, meanwhile, includes several senior audit, risk and COO positions at various banking giants including Barclays and HSBC. In 2017, he formed a behavioural risk team within HSBC Global Banking and Markets, which he then ran until leaving the bank in 2022 to work as an independent consultant advising organisations on conduct, culture and behavioural risk.
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Today’s guest discusses how finance executives and their regulators can best support the government’s efforts to drive growth and competitiveness in the UK’s financial services sector.
With that in mind, he outlines why he believes it is important to debate whether the Financial Conduct Authority has taken the right approach in its recent efforts to better protect UK consumers.
And he calls out tech giant Meta for “not doing enough” to stem the volume of fraud taking place on its platforms.
David Postings’ 40-year career in financial services includes several senior roles at some of the UK’s largest banks including Barclays and Lloyds Bank. In 2021, he was appointed chief executive of UK Finance, the voice of the UK’s banking and finance industry.
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Missing episodes?
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Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a global technology firm providing global financial services companies with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
Today’s guests discuss how organisations are responding to increasing regulatory pressure to improve their awareness of any non-financial misconduct occurring within their workforce.
They outline the major challenges arising from this requirement to monitor for such indicators of toxic culture, and they explain how artificial intelligence tools can best be used to address these issues.
Shaun Hurst previously managed technology for Citigroup’s security and investigations teams in Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Since 2022, he has worked as Smarsh’s principal regulatory advisor.
Paul Taylor is a former senior IT executive for UBS’s legal, compliance, risk and internal audit functions. Since 2021, he has worked as the vice president for product management for Smarsh's Enterprise Conduct solution.
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Today’s guests outline where financial institutions are going wrong in their efforts to address their cultural shortcomings.
They discuss the practical steps that those managing finance workers can take to meaningfully improve the culture within their organisations and they outline how regulators could best support their efforts.
They also explain how such changes, and the cultural improvements deriving from them, can ultimately add value to the businesses embracing them.
Britt Johnston’s 30-year career includes 26 years in various senior roles on bank trading floors. In 2020, she took on responsibility for the UK conduct and culture programme at Natixis before being promoted in 2022 to oversee the investment bank’s conduct and culture initiatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Tina Mavraki’s 26-year career includes stints at banking giants Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. Since 2018, she has worked as a portfolio non-executive board director and strategic adviser for several financial institutions and research groups including Cambridge University’s Centre for Climate Engagement.
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FURTHER READING:
Leadership insight: corporate culture | Cambridge University’s Centre for Climate Engagement
Five Truths (and a Lie) About Corporate Transformation | BCG
Risk Cultures and Banking: Where next? | ACCA
Bank climate commitments are not effective - Green Central Banking | ECB report
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Today’s guest outlines how she expects regulators to push financial institutions to keep better track of their employees’ behaviour.
She discusses how finance firms should be modernising their staff surveillance programmes in response to this regulatory focus and explains how those tasked with monitoring finance workers’ behaviour can best encourage their bosses to spend the money required to ensure such changes are successful.
She also details what skills those working in financial institutions’ surveillance functions must develop to stay relevant amidst this growing pressure to innovate.
And she should know. Because Emily Wright’s 25-year career includes stints overseeing the compliance functions and surveillance programmes in Asia Pacific for financial services giants Standard Chartered, JP Morgan and ICAP. Since 2023, she has advised financial institutions on their compliance and conduct as an independent consultant.
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Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a global technology firm providing financial services companies with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
Today’s guest discusses how financial institutions are changing their communications surveillance programmes in response to an increasing regulatory focus on this space.
He details how generative AI is transforming both communications surveillance technology and the role of the professionals tasked with using such tools.
He also outlines how finance bosses and compliance teams can develop best-in-class surveillance processes.
Brandon Carl is executive vice president for AI and product strategy at Smarsh.
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Podcast notes
Smarsh's off-channel e-book: https://www.smarsh.com/off-channel-communications-emerging-best-practices
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Today’s guest discusses how he expects the Labour administration will prioritise a long list of pending financial services reforms inherited from the previous government.
He explains how such a reform programme could be interpreted to provide City bosses with the clarity they seek as to how the government will address perceived tensions between its planned pro-growth agenda and its commitments to better protect consumers.
And he outlines what upcoming and current pain points regulators and lawmakers must work to address now to avoid the risk of the UK falling behind.
Conor Sewell brings a useful perspective to all these topics having worked as an analyst for the Bank of England's Capital Markets Division, and as Senior Policy Advisor for the Treasury’s Financial Services Group. Since 2023, he has advised some of the world’s biggest financial services companies on policy, and politics as a director at political advisory group Forefront Advisers.
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Today’s guest outlines what’s to come in a new package of tougher global capital requirements known as Basel 3.1. He explains how banks can best prepare for the reforms and discusses the prospects of a delay to their implementation in the UK.
He outlines how the Prudential Regulation Authority is responding to a new obligation to consider the impact of their activities on the UK’s growth and competitiveness.He also opens up about life at the helm of the UK’s top finance regulator, his thoughts on what he’ll do once his tenure as CEO of the PRA comes to an end, and plenty more in between.Sam Woods’ career began at consulting giant McKinsey, and includes 23 years guiding or advising on various aspects of UK financial services policy and regulation. Since 2016, he has overseen the UK banking and insurance sectors as head of the PRA and the deputy governor of the Bank of England.
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Links of note:
Monsters in the deep? − a speech by Jonathan Hall, the Bank of England's external member of the Financial Policy Committee, referenced by Sam Woods around 32 mins into the episode.
The 'Carrington Event' − referenced by Sam Woods 40 mins into the episode.
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Today’s guest explains why the UK could be sleepwalking into a new compliance scandal, and he details where such a blow-up might originate.
He outlines how he believes financial services regulation could be improved – both by policymakers in government and the regulators themselves.
And he details what opportunities for financial services reforms he believes the new Labour government should prioritise in the months ahead.
Gavin Stewart’s career includes 13 years at the Bank of England, 10 years at the Financial Conduct Authority’s predecessor the Financial Services Authority and just under four years at the FCA, including a two-year stint as its chief risk officer. He worked at consulting group Grant Thornton for six years before leaving in early 2023 to write a book.
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Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Symphony, a secure and compliant communications and technology platform built for financial markets & trading teams.
Today’s guest details how bosses at some of the world’s largest financial institutions are responding to increasing regulatory pressure to keep track of their employees’ communications across myriad messaging platforms.
He outlines how compliance professionals and their bosses should best navigate the rapid proliferation of AI tools within the financial services sector. And details how he expects communications surveillance compliance to develop in response to the challenges ahead in 2024 and beyond.
Ben Chrnelich is president and chief financial officer at Symphony.
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With just days to go until the UK goes to the polls, today’s guest outlines what City executives can expect from a Labour administration. He discusses how he expects the relationship between the new government and finance watchdogs to develop and why regulators may well see a new secondary objective land on their plate.
He also details how he believes relations between the UK and the European Union will change following elections in the bloc, and will change following elections in the bloc, in ways that could ultimately be beneficial to the financial services sector.
Sander Schol’s 20-year career includes stints helping to decipher policymakers and governments’ approach to financial services for bosses at some of Europe’s largest financial institutions, including JP Morgan and BGC Partners. Since 2021, he has advised businesses on policy relating to financial and digital services as head of European public affairs at political consultancy Hanbury Strategy.
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Today’s guest calls on politicians on both sides of the UK’s political spectrum to reconsider their ambivalence towards the City and to do more to promote its achievements in the run up to next month’s election and beyond.
He outlines where fund managers and regulators may want to rethink their approach to investments within the environmental, social and governance space.
He also explains how finance workers can best navigate upcoming and increasing geopolitical volatility, and plenty more in between.
Saker Nusseibeh is Chief Executive of the London arm of Federated Hermes, a US investment manager with $778bn in assets under management. In 2020, he was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for services to Responsible Business and Finance.
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Today’s episode is a recording of a recent panel discussion at the annual conference for the Quoted Companies Alliance, which is an organisation that campaigns for the UK’s community of small and midsized publicly traded businesses and the firms that advise them.
I was invited to moderate a panel on what more our regulators can do to support capital markets for companies of all sizes and we discussed where regulators and policymakers have hit the right mark in their efforts to bolster London’s capital markets, where they have missed opportunities, how market participants themselves need to step up to support their efforts and plenty more in between.
I hope you enjoy it.
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Today’s episode is a little different to normal. It is a recording of a recent panel discussion from City Week’s AI in Financial Services Leaders Summit which took place in London last week.
I was invited to moderate a panel on the transformative potential of generative AI and we discussed interesting use cases for genAI in the financial services space, how boards and senior managers can best manage the risks relating to the new technology, how regulators could help market participants embrace the opportunities presented by GenAI responsibly and plenty more in between.
I hope you enjoy it.
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Today’s guest outlines how he is shaping the Financial Reporting Council into a “more strategic” organisation focused on proportionate oversight of auditors, accountants and actuaries.
He explains what support he needs from lawmakers and industry as he navigates that task, alongside setting standards and codes in the public interest, and discusses the FRC’s changing regulatory priorities more broadly in the face of shifting political and market dynamics.
Richard Moriarty’s career spans three decades and includes stints as CEO of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority and as partner at political risk consulting firm Flint Global. In October 2023, he took over as CEO of the Financial Reporting Council.
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Today’s episode has been produced in partnership with City Week, an annual agenda-setting international financial services forum which brings together more than 1,000 senior decision-makers from UK and overseas financial institutions for a comprehensive programme of cutting-edge presentations, panel discussions, social events and networking.
Today’s guest will be speaking at City Week on the growth prospects for sustainable finance and investment post-COP28. And it is in that context that she spoke with Following the Rules about how lawmakers and financial services executives can best support the global transition to a net zero economy. She also offers her views on how UK policymakers could encourage more companies to list in London.
She outlines how she believes the investment management industry should approach international investment decisions over the long term and navigate upcoming and increasing geopolitical tension and political uncertainty globally.
And she offers advice on how to get comfortable being “the only woman in the room” in a male-dominated industry.
And she should know. Because over the course of a 23-year career, Sonja Laud has held several senior roles within the asset management industry including a stint as head of equity at Fidelity International. Since 2019, she has worked as Chief Investment Officer at Legal & General Investment Management.
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Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Global Relay, a technology firm providing global financial services firms with the software to capture, store and monitor their employees’ communications.
Today’s guest discusses how financial institutions in the US and UK are responding to regulatory pressures to more closely track their employees’ communications, as well as to foster operational resilience and promote good conduct amongst their staff.
He explains why one particular compliance tool is proving especially effective in helping firms promote good behaviour amongst their workforce and outlines how some finance bosses are starting to push back on regulators’ aggressive record-keeping clampdown.
He also offers guidance on how financial institutions can best use technology to address their emerging compliance risks, including a check list of essential questions he believes everyone should ask any prospective regulatory technology provider.
Alex Viall is the Chief Strategy Officer at Global Relay.
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Today’s guest discusses the policy and regulatory outlook for artificial intelligence in the US, UK and EU and outlines how policymakers, regulators and City bosses can best manage the risks arising from the financial industry’s increasing use of AI technology.
She details the policies that she would like politicians in the US and UK to prioritise ahead of elections in both jurisdictions.
She outlines how finance giants’ government affairs heads can best navigate these upcoming elections (and a potential return of President Trump).
And calls on politicians to avoid “political point scoring” in the run up to both votes.
Lisa Rabbe has spent more than three decades guiding some of the world’s largest financial institutions through regulatory and policy changes affecting their businesses. Her career includes stints as head of government affairs for Europe, Middle East and Africa at US giant Goldman Sachs and Chief Government and Public Affairs Officer at credit rating agency Moody’s.
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Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Global Relay, a technology firm providing global financial services firms with the software to capture, store and monitor their employees’ communications.
Today’s guest outlines how financial services companies and their regulators are preparing for an expected clampdown on employees’ social media use. He outlines how an increasing regulatory focus on City workers’ behaviour in and out of the day job is changing their bosses approach to capturing and monitoring their communications. And he details how firms are using new technology to address compliance pain points when dealing with communications supervision.
Rob Mason is director of regulatory intelligence at Global Relay.
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Today’s guest outlines how finance bosses can best support those running their risk, audit, and compliance functions to avoid serious disruptions in future.
He cautions that without such investment in their governance, regulatory and controls functions, financial institutions risk inducing regulatory fatigue and provoking “flight risk” amongst valued senior staff.
He also details how he believes senior risk, audit and compliance professionals should navigate today’s job market and changing work environment, and plenty more besides.
Alex Keetch is Managing Director at Halsey Keetch, an executive search firm that specialises in placing senior leaders onto financial services company boards and within their risk, compliance, financial crime, and internal audit departments.
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