With the Brexit negotiations currently deadlocked and no clear route towards an agreement between the UK and EU-27, the chances of a no deal Brexit are higher now than they have ever been. Banks should ramp up their planning to meet changing regulatory requirements in both the UK and EU in the event of a no deal scenario.

Since its inception in 2013 the PRA and FCA’s New Banks Unit has made great progress in reducing barriers to entry for new banks in the UK. But while there is clearly an increased number of banking competitors in the market today, “no small bank has successfully become a large...

Whatever the UK’s relationship with the EU ends up looking like, it’s clear that the UK’s regulatory framework needs to adapt to the new reality. This is driven not just by the fact that the UK will no longer be subject to the EU’s regulatory framework (assuming the UK leaves the single market), but also because of the scale of change and disruption in financial services from technology, new players and changing demographics.

By Brian Polk, Director So far in this series of blogposts on bank regulation, we’ve looked at whether ‘Peak Reg’— the point at which the advancing tide of banking regulation pauses and goes into retreat—has been reached (short answer: ‘almost’); and examined the emerging priorities shaping future regulation in a...

By Lucas Penfold and Leo Donnachie Sustainable investing is attracting unprecedented levels of attention from regulators, both domestically and internationally. With an increasing public appetite for investments which generate a positive social impact and sustainable returns, the associated regulatory environment comes with new challenges for asset managers. But what are...

SUP 3.10.5 R (3) requires the CASS audit report to include an opinion on a nominee in whose name client custody assets are registered. However, working out whether the rule applies in particular circumstances, and what the report should say; is less than straightforward.

The European Commission (EC) released its Communication document on the equivalence framework for financial services (FS) on Monday, 29 July 2019, updating an earlier Staff Working Document. It sets out the Commission’s equivalence policy priorities, and puts the EU’s recent legislative efforts into that context. It also seeks to build consistency into the assessment and the decision making processes around equivalence.

With a new Boris Johnson-led government putting No Deal back on the table and a new European Commission remaining consistent in refusing to re-open the Withdrawal Agreement before 31 October, firms will be grateful that the decision to postpone Brexit earlier this year means they still have some time remaining to prepare. So how have firms used the extra time? And have Brexit risks reduced or have new ones emerged?

IFRS 17 as a catalyst for finance transformation and digital change within an insurance company - Is this a crazy idea? IFRS 17 is an accounting standard after all so it's only for accountants to think about isn't it? Why should an insurer change their whole business approach and systems to comply with an accounting change? and surely other regulatory changes have offered this opportunity too?Over the last 2.5 years, I've been more intensely involved with IFRS 17 and linking with PwC insurance teams all over the world. I've recently heard clients being increasingly receptive to including other areas into their IFRS 17 projects. To be honest, some insurers still see IFRS 17 as a pure technical accounting exercise to comply with the Standard set by the IASB, where others are running full scale finance transformation projects and using IFRS 17 as a catalyst.

By Brian Polk I began this short series of blog posts on developments in bank regulation by asking whether ‘Peak Reg’ has been reached—the point at which the advancing tide of banking regulation pauses and goes into retreat. As ever in the global regulatory field, there’s no single, hard-and-fast answer:...

Governance can often be seen as an administrative burden - agenda setting, minute taking, cross referencing between committees. It can be seen as a ‘need to do’ rather than something that helps an organisation achieve success. In the worst cases, it can be seen as something that needs to be circumvented to actually get things done in an organisation. That is, until something goes wrong

The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) heard from representatives from the PRA, BoE and FCA on 24 July, in what we believe to be the last session in its inquiry into IT failures within financial services. This follows earlier sessions with industry representatives, as well as PwC and TheCityUK where we discussed our recent report on operational resilience.The questions in this latest session were predictably wide-ranging as the committee members looked for assurance from the regulators on how well prepared financial services firms are to withstand operational disruption, and to find out more about future plans to enhance the industry standards as well as develop the regulators’ own capabilities. Two key themes stood out for us.

When you enter the Houses of Parliament it is impossible not to be impressed by the historical significance of the setting. But despite the Victorian grandeur of the location we were there this week to discuss a very modern phenomenon - IT and other operational failures in the financial services sector. Following a number of high profile operational incidents in the financial services sector in recent years, the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) has launched an inquiry into this topic. We were very privileged to be called to give evidence to the first public session of the inquiry to discuss a recent report we produced with TheCityUK on operational resilience.

A speech by Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, in June 2019 stated that the Bank of England is launching a review to explore the transformation of the hosting and use of regulatory data over the next decade. This includes proofs of concepts to test how the Bank can automatically extract regulatory firm data.  The speech clearly highlighted the Bank’s increased focus on exploring how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies can be used to collect and interpret supervisory data from firms to minimise manual processes. The Bank aims to pull the data on demand from firms, making the regulatory reporting process more efficient and less expensive.

The annual speeches by the Chancellor and Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) at the Mansion House are always important dates in the diary for the financial services sector. This year’s speech was the last that Mark Carney will give as Governor and many expect that Philip Hammond will no longer be Chancellor once a new Prime Minister is appointed. In ‘normal’ times the replacement within a six month period of the two most influential financial services policy makers in the UK would represent an unusual amount of change. But as the sector currently faces a number of profound disruptions, challenges and opportunities, the 2019 speeches are more likely to be remembered as an important signal of the policy makers’ response to these.

Just as policemen seem to be getting younger, so the pace of change outlined by the Governor of the Bank of England in his annual Mansion House speech appears to accelerate every year, and this year has been no exception. Some of the statistics thrown out by Mark Carney at this year’s Mansion House event are extraordinary: last year, one fifth of sales were online, whereas this year it will be one quarter.

It came as no surprise to anyone that once again governance and culture featured prominently as a cross sector priority in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) 2019/20 business plan. A key hammer to crack this particular nut will be the extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR), which currently covers banks and insurers but will capture all regulated firms from the fixed implementation deadline of 9 December 2019.  But firms should not consider this in isolation, or as a ‘one off’ exercise - the governance and culture agenda continues to be an ongoing, permanent fixture of FCA supervisory focus and will likely be fertile ground for enforcement cases if current trends continue.

Scroll through a newsfeed nowadays and it’s difficult to avoid the latest take on innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and advanced data analytics. These technological developments are beginning to disrupt the way in which financial services firms operate. A recent report by PwC shows that, while firms are at varying degrees of maturity in adoption, many are now embracing these technologies to transform activities such as risk management, fraud detection and post-trade processes. While these innovations are likely to be adopted by many within financial services, debate is growing around the disruptive power of new technologies and who is ultimately accountable for ensuring they are used responsibly.

By Brian Polk In the energy industry, a concept has emerged called ‘Peak Oil’ - defined as the moment when global petroleum extraction reaches its maximum rate before it slips into decline. Today, more and more banking clients are asking if there is a comparable turning-point for their own industry....

By Stephanie Henderson-Begg On 12 June the PRA fed back to firms on their “fast growing firms” (FGF) thematic, which has involved 20 of the fastest growing UK challenger banks. The review raised concerns around how firms manage the interlinking facets of risk appetite, stress testing and business model. The...