Forvis Mazars proudly participated in the Africa Financial Summit (AFIS) 2024, held from 9-10 December in Casablanca, Morocco, and sponsored the awards ceremony. Below are some reflections on the state of play and future of Africa’s financial sector. In recent...
In November 2024, the NGFS[1] (Network for Greening the Financial System) published phase V of its widely used climate scenarios updated with the most recent economic and climate data, policy commitments, and model versions. This phase V also introduces a...
The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published the final texts of the DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) regulation in July. These definitive texts will come into effect in January 2025, enhancing digital operational resilience and IT risk management for all financial...
A day doesn’t seem to go by without there being another sustainability regulation announcement. This article is a whistle-stop tour around selected jurisdictions and provides an update on what has happened in the past few months, what is to come,...
In the ongoing digitalisation of the banking sector and the rapid growth of financial technology, banks increasingly rely on third-party service providers (TPSPs), including for some of their critical functions. This dependency introduces significant risks, as banks do not always...
Traditional methods of tackling financial crime are no longer effective in a world where bad actors use increasingly sophisticated techniques to exploit weaknesses in financial crime controls. With the establishment of a new European regulator, embedding the latest AI-enabled solutions...
In today's dynamic financial landscape, cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology have taken centre stage, attracting both enthusiasts and sceptics. The volatility and potential of digital assets prompt questions about their evolving positions in the traditional financial market. While the promise...
The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services continues to exercise C-suite minds. Not least, how to balance AI's benefits to enhance the customer experience and improve back-office operations with the ethical challenges that AI presents. Sparking the debate...
The financial services sector is increasingly looking to technology to help tackle the rising levels of regulation they face. According to the latest Forvis Mazars C-Suite Barometer, the prominence of new technology as a global trend is on the rise...
Digital transformation now tops the C-Suite agenda of financial services organisations. According to the latest Forvis Mazars C-Suite Barometer, one-third of respondents identified the need to transform company IT as a strategic priority ahead of issues such as sustainability initiatives. While...
Optimism in the financial services sector is riding high. According to the latest Forvis-Mazars C-Suite Barometer, 94% of financial services respondents say they're growing, which is five points higher than the global average and up overall from 92% last year....
In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, regulators and legislators around the world tried to make sense of its causes and then implement rules to stop it happening again. In the UK, the resulting regulation introduced by the Financial...
In the dynamic world of finance, regulatory updates play a pivotal role in shaping industry practices and safeguarding the interests of stakeholders. From strengthening anti-money laundering measures to fostering transparency in crypto-asset markets, recent months have witnessed a flurry of...
Operational resilience is the ability of firms to prepare for, prevent, adapt and respond to, recover and learn from operational disruption. It is a complex and multi-faceted challenge for cross-border banks to prepare for and respond to. This is because...
An EU vs UK vs US perspective Sixteen years ago, the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the global financial crisis, which highlighted significant weaknesses in the global banking sector. The oversight of the sector was quite fragmented between jurisdictions, leading...
Differing approaches to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) supervision across the EU have severely limited member countries’ ability to fight efficiently this growing threat. The creation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Authority (AMLA)...
Following the 2007-08 global financial crisis, substantial deficiencies were identified in many banks’ risk data aggregation capabilities and risk reporting practices globally. This impacts banks’ ability to make timely risk decisions, creating risks not only for themselves but for the...
Financial institutions are faced with several challenges: strong economic pressure, regulatory changes, evolving customer expectations, punctuated by strong competition from fintechs and insurtechs; which rely natively on emerging technologies to offer best-in-class services. To meet these challenges and stand out...
Africa's economic potential is hindered by the pervasive presence of illicit financial flows (IFFs), fraud, and corruption, which not only strip the continent of vital resources but also obstruct its path towards sustainable development. The staggering annual loss of $88.6...
In the ongoing battle against financial crimes spanning money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, collaborative efforts in asset confiscation and seizure stand as vital bulwarks. As we navigate the complexities of the financial landscape...
We have identified and ranked the key risks for financial services business leaders in 2024 based on market research, regulatory insights as well as our assessment of the current difficulties facing firms. We discuss in this article the key takeaways...
We have identified and ranked the key risks for financial services business leaders in 2024 based on market research, regulatory insights as well as our assessment of the current difficulties facing firms. We also highlight the changes in risk rankings...
Mazars recently hosted a Financial Services INED Roundtable Dining Event in Dublin[1]. Over 50 financial services independent non-executive directors (INEDs) attended, from banking, asset management, funds and insurance entities operating across the EU and UK. The roundtable focussed on the...
The European Central Bank (ECB) issued the SSM supervisory priorities for the 2024-2026 cycle on 19 December 2023. They sum up what institutions under the direct supervision of the ECB should expect in terms of areas of supervision, in 2024...
In January 2024, the European Central Bank (ECB) published its Climate and Nature Plan for 2024-2025. This plan aims to: clarify what actions the ECB intends to take to progress its climate and nature agenda; and define what banks need...
DORA is a legislative proposal that aims to improve the digital operational resilience and ensure the performance and stability of the financial system of the member countries of the European Union in the face of the risks associated with ICT...
In late 2023, and to coincide with COP 28, Mazars published its latest Sustainability practices survey on the progress banks and insurers have made in embedding sustainability into their businesses, our most comprehensive and information-rich report to date covering 404...
The Single Resolution Board (SRB) convened its annual conference on 13 February 2024 with a theme highlighting the focus for the year: ‘The road ahead: risk, readiness and resilience’. While significant strides have been made with the EU banking resolution...
In environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting, materiality is crucial for enhancing transparency and accountability in sustainability and climate-related disclosures. Importantly, it helps identify and report on matters that are deemed significant, emphasizing their relevance to stakeholders. Materiality comes in...
To adapt to the swiftly evolving regulatory landscape and meet stakeholders' expectations, financial firms are increasingly formulating sustainability strategies to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Notably, emissions reduction and the pursuit of net-zero targets have become central elements...
On 29 June 2023, the European Union’s (EU) Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) entered into force. It is being implemented in stages depending on the provisions, between June and December 2024. The regulation, which provides clearer rules for crypto-asset...
There are increasing regulatory expectations globally for financial institutions to disclose and demonstrate how sustainability-related responsibilities are allocated within the organisation. In this respect, the increasing global trend towards mandatory sustainability disclosure frameworks continues to underscore the significant role that...
The regulatory requirements for insurance companies are becoming increasingly complex. In this interview, Marc Böhlhoff and Thomas Volkmer, Partners at Mazars in Germany, discuss the impact of this change on the industry and delve into what it means for the operations...
On 19 December 2023, the European Central Bank (ECB) published its updated Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) strategic supervisory priorities for the period 2024 to 2026. The priorities indicate what banks should expect in terms of supervisory activities in 2024. For...
The increased demand for sustainable finance shows that awareness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is generally high among financial institutions. Indeed, for many of the larger players subject to the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), there has been...
While the banking sector has shown resilience over recent years, the economic environment and geopolitical situation remain tense. So, what does this mean for risks to the banking sector? More specifically, what is the impact on capital requirements for banks...
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and Financial Stability Board (FSB) published reports in October 2023 on the causes and lessons learnt from the Spring 2023 banking turmoil. The BCBS report provides an assessment of the causes of the...
The implementation of the European Union's 'Taxonomy' regulation, which integrates two climate objectives, was carried out on 1 January 2022 through the 'Climate' Delegated Act released in April 2021. In line with this, the banking sector has been provided with...
In 2022, the European Union implemented the green taxonomy for the second year, requiring companies to disclose indicators related to climate objectives. The green taxonomy aims to guide capital investment towards environmentally sustainable activities, making companies assess their alignment with...
2023 marks the second year in which insurance and reinsurance companies have published their eligibility ratios for the European Green Taxonomy. For the insurance sector, the objective is to measure the proportion of investments, as well as the proportion of...
The IIF Annual Membership meeting is a setting for insights and perspectives from global financial regulators and senior financial sector executives on topical economic and regulatory issues. Being a forum with global coverage means that it is a valuable setting for...
DORA (the Digital Operational Resilience Act) is the key regulatory outlook for IT and Cyber risk between now and 2025. The European Supervisory Agencies have sought to strengthen the resilience of institutions by emphasising the need to evolve the approach...
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, post-model adjustments1, or management overlays, have become an increasingly common and accepted mechanism used by banks to manage expected credit losses (ECLs). The number of post-Covid unprecedented events related to the war in Ukraine, energy crisis...
A recent major board reshuffle in one of Europe’s largest listed investment companies has focused attention on private investment valuations. It follows concerns raised by an ex-director over the robustness of the directors’ processes for approving investment valuations. The issues...
ACPR publishes report on automated AML/CFT transaction monitoring systems In 2022, the ACPR conducted a comprehensive thematic review, focussed on the automated systems utilised by the entities under its supervision. This entails entities implementing their obligations in terms of transaction...
The Eurofi financial forum is a setting for exchanges between European Union (EU) economic and financial regulators and senior financial sector executives from the industry. It occurs bi-annually alongside the Economic and Financial Affairs Council configuration (ECOFIN) meetings. This summary...
With the approaching end of the investigation phase of the ECB’s digital euro project in October 2023, and the expectance of a decision on starting a realisation phase by the end of this year, the pros and cons of a...
New report on AML/CFT risks in payment institutions In accordance with the European Union regulations, the European Banking Authority (EBA) has been mandated to assess the management of the most significant risks in the fight against money laundering and terrorist...
New measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing The European Parliament has adopted a set of stringent measures to strengthen the fight against money laundering and terror financing, alongside circumventing sanctions within EU. These regulations are presented by EU...
ESG-related regulatory requirements, and scrutiny, show no signs of abating. Asset managers have a pivotal role in financing the transition towards low-carbon economic systems. Hence, governments have introduced several ESG-related regulatory requirements that apply to asset managers. Some examples of...
The European Commission published on 18 April 2023 a new legislative package aiming to adapt and strengthen the framework for crisis management and deposit insurance (CMDI), with an acute focus on small and medium-sized banks. This proposal, which follows the...
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published on 17 November, together with EBA and IOEPA, a Q&A on the RTS of the SFDR Delegated Regulation (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288), just six weeks before coming into force. The Q&A...
Since the onset of 2023, regulatory news has been adorned with the latest European legislation, under the acronym DORA, adopted on 10 November 2022 by the European Parliament. Standing for the Digital Operational Resilience Act, it will apply to the...
The momentum towards a low-carbon economic system is only set to grow. Financial services firms are pivotal actors in the transition; consequently, increasing demands are being put on them to demonstrate their sustainable finance activities and credentials. This blog explains...
In an interview, Korbinian Ibel, Director General at the European Central Bank (ECB), shares insight on how bank-specific direct supervision works, what the current risks and challenges are, and priorities to look out for in the coming years. What does...
“I see digital as the future of finance”. These are the words of the Executive Vice President of the European Commission (EC), Valdis Dombrovskis, voiced in the summer of 2020. He has undoubtedly been proven right as governments and central...
The Federal Reserve Board (Fed) has shared instructions on its pilot climate scenario analysis exercise (CSA). Six of the largest U.S. banks, i.e., Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo are participating in the...
The European Central Bank (ECB) has expressed a significant supervisory concern surrounding more than half of supervised banks in terms of the progress made on fulfilling the expectations specified in the Guide on climate-related and environmental risks. The ECB recently...
The European Banking Authority (EBA) is tasked, in cooperation with the European Systematic Risk Board (ESRB), to initiate and coordinate biennial EU-wide stress testing exercises to assess the resilience of institutions to adverse market developments. The objective is to provide...
In summer 2022, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published its second consultation paper on the prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures. The guidelines outlined in the proposed document follow an initial discussion paper released in 2019 and a first consultative...
A new regulation introducing a pilot scheme based on blockchain technology is set to come into force on 23 March 2023. The new European regulation1 is an experiment to develop secondary markets for financial securities based on distributed ledger technology...
Following Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014, the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), together with other countries, imposed mainly economic sanctions on Russia. Since Russia's recognition of the self-proclaimed autonomous republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, followed...
Climate change is now firmly in the focus of prudential regulators and supervisors across the globe. Against this background, the European Banking Authority (EBA) is mandated to assess whether a dedicated prudential treatment of exposures related to assets or activities...
The last few weeks have been marked by an ongoing review of the supervisory priorities initially listed by the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) for 2022-24, and developments in the climate agenda outlined by the European Central Bank (ECB). ECB’s supervisory...
For several months now, we have been in an economic and financial environment that we have not seen for some years. In May, inflation in the Eurozone reached 8.1%, with six countries exceeding 10%, while the United States recorded an...
The chair of the European Central Bank's Supervisory Board, Andrea Enria, has voiced several times in the past months the supervisor’s concern with the increasing growth of the leveraged finance sector, which deals with loans to highly indebted borrowers. By...
The war in Ukraine, as well as the unprecedented sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States and their partners against Russia have had major consequences for financial services institutions. For foreign companies operating in Russia or Ukraine, the...
While the European Commission’s most recent opinion on the review of the Solvency II Directive is broadly in line with the final European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIPOA) opinion issued in December 2020, some measures have now been amended....
The European Green Deal aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and create a modern, competitive and resource-efficient economy. To meet its objectives, the European Commission has begun to restructure the non-financial reporting requirements for companies. Although some of the...
Since the European crisis management framework was established in 2014, there have not been many failing banks in Europe. However, the recent global health pandemic, combined with the ongoing conflict in Europe between Russia and Ukraine, could easily change this....
Crypto-asset markets have been on banks’ radar for some time. While interest and involvement have varied, regulatory developments have been a driving force. In September 2020, the European Union (EU) published a proposal for the regulation of Markets in Crypto-assets...
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24 February 2022 is considered the most significant geopolitical event since the Second World War. While there is no question of military intervention by the European Union (EU) at the moment, the EU...
A central database to strengthen the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) framework was launched by the European Banking Authority (EBA) on 31 January 2022. Called EuReCA, the new database will be essential to coordinate efforts by national competent authorities...
Like all industries, the real estate sector has to implement a range of legal, technical and organisational measures to protect the personal data of its employees, customers, prospects and suppliers. Processing must comply with several regulations related to data protection,...
As part of its rotating Presidency of the EU Council for a six-month mandate, France chaired its first EU Council of Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) meeting on 18 January with a view to getting certain current legislative work finalised. The ECOFIN...
As regulated entities execute their post-Brexit strategies and relocate their European Union (EU) operations from the UK to other EU states, a key issue to be addressed for those relocating to Ireland remain to be the impending legislative changes surrounding...
The great financial crisis triggered a massive wave of bankruptcies in the worldwide banking sector, affected not only large international banks such as Lehman Brothers but also local ones such as Northern Rock in the UK. Basel prudential standards are...
On 19 January 2022, Mr Patrick Amis, the head of ECB Directorate General Specialised Institutions and Less Significant Institutions (DG/SPL) had a formal meeting with Mazars to discuss the implications of the pandemic for the LSIs and the supervisory focus....
Supervisory priorities 2022-2024 In December 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national supervisory authorities of the Eurozone countries published their supervisory priorities for 2022-2024. The three-year coverage enables the ECB banking supervision to achieve good progress in addressing...
The growing importance of sustainability issues and the role of credit institutions in financing transformation places climate and environmental risks at the core of regulatory and supervisory scrutiny today. For some years now, the Network for Greening the Financial System...
The creation of a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority will transform the supervision of money laundering and financing terrorism (AML/CFT) in the EU. Proposed reforms also extend the AML/CFT rules to all crypto-asset service providers, as well as include specific rules...
On 22 September, the European Commission adopted a review of Solvency II following the consultation launched by EIOPA in 2020, whose final guidance was published in December 2020. As the Commission notes, the 2020 review of the directive met several...
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) was established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act as a result of the 2007-2008 US financial crisis. A first of its kind, the 15-member council is tasked primarily with identifying...
As the PRA transitions from a “rule-taker” to a “rule-maker”, small and medium-sized banks operating in the UK can expect to benefit from a more “streamlined” regulatory regime that could be easier to interpret, implement and maintain; but at the...
The identification and management of non-performing loans or NPLs as early as possible by banks are among supervisors’ current high-level priorities. Indeed, when prudential, monetary, and fiscal crisis mitigation mechanisms are tapered, the weakening of borrowers’ creditworthiness could materialise, along...
The unveiling of the new banking package “CRR3 - CRD6” on 27 October 2021 presents a further landmark on the road to implementing the final Basel III agreements. The regulatory scheme will also focus on the revision of the market...
Climate change introduces considerable economic challenges. On the one hand, financial institutions must contribute to the transition to a low-carbon and balanced economy to effectively combat global warming. On the other hand, the financial sector is exposed to climate-related and...
A major step forward has been taken in implementing the European "investment firms" package in France*. The transposition of the package into local legislation, alongside EU Regulation 2019/2033 on prudential requirements for investment firms (IFR), came into full effect on...
Brexit, or the UK's departure from the European Union, became a reality on 1 January 2021. In terms of the regulatory impact for the financial sector, and the banking sector in particular, the UK being a third country, UK banks...
On 1 March 2021, the European Banking Authority (EBA) launched a public consultation on draft implementing technical standards (ITS) for Pillar 3 disclosures of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, under its capital requirements regulation (CRR) mandate. The consultation will...
The Targeted Review of Internal Models (TRIM) was one of the largest projects by the European Central Bank (ECB) aimed at identifying potential sources of unwarranted or non-risk based variability in Significant Institutions (SIs) risk-weighted assets (RWA) from the use...
Click here to read 'Key takeaways & industry challenges following the ECB TRIM project – a focus on credit risk (Part 2)' As articulated by the ECB in its recent TRIM reporting, the 236 findings cover different key aspects of...
Against the background of a new year still severely affected by the persistence of the pandemic throughout the world and economies facing an unprecedented global macro-economic shock, the Basel Committee has felt it necessary to address the audit of the...
While 2020 went relatively smoothly for the banking sector, uncertainties remain on the potential effects of Covid-19 on the real economy. Any negative impact could lead to heavy losses for the sector, especially when support measures are gradually phased out....
On 13 November 2020, the EBA published the final methodological note for the 2021 EU-wide stress-testing exercise. The aim of the stress tests is to assess the resilience of financial institutions to adverse economic and financial developments, in particular in...
The publication on 29 January of baseline and adverse scenarios, output templates, instructions and market assumptions required to carry out stress tests signals the go-ahead by the European Banking Association (EBA) for the 2021 regulatory exercise. Because of the Covid-19...
With the economic repercussions of the Covid-19 crisis yet to be fully assessed, a robust resolution framework is essential to ensure the stability of the banking system. While the banks were given leave to postpone the reporting of some less...
European sustainable finance regulations evolved considerably in 2020, and the European Banking Authority (EBA) is continuing this trend into 2021. It recently published a discussion paper assessing the potential inclusion of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks in the supervisory...
Michael Lennard, Chief of International Tax Cooperation and Trade in the Financing for Sustainable Development Office (FfDO) of the United Nations, examines the role of tax toolkits for developing countries from a personal perspective. The Platform for Collaboration on Tax...
In this edition of our Banking Regulatory Radar, we cover the key regulatory developments in the banking sector for 2020-2025. The latest version of the Mazars' Regulatory Radar has been updated with all the Level 2 legislation published in 2020,...
Michael Lennard, Chief of International Tax Cooperation and Trade in the Financing for Sustainable Development Office (FSDO) of the United Nations, discusses, from a personal perspective, a range of key issues on the UN’s approach to transfer pricing. In 2019...
March 2020 marked the first time - since its inception in 2014 - that the Bank of England (BoE) cancelled its annual stress tests for the UK’s biggest lenders. Instead, they undertook a desktop analysis of the UK banking sector...
Around one-fifth of global banking activity is undertaken in the UK. Almost half of the UK's banking assets are held by international banks. The PRA currently supervises approximately 250 international banks, both branches and subsidiaries, which are part of around...
One of the anticipated challenges in the transition from IBOR rates to risk-free rates (RFRs) is the management of its impact on quantitative models. The ones currently used for pricing IBOR-linked financial instruments account for term rates which are “forward-looking”....
Under article 430c of the updated Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR 2), the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union mandate that the European Banking Authority (EBA) perform a feasibility study on reducing the reporting burden for the European...
An important milestone in the IBOR transition is the change in rates used by LCH and CME for discounting and Price Alignment Interest (PAI) calculations for USD OTC cleared swaps. Indeed, on October 16, 2020, they moved from using the...
As the world gears up for the transition to net-zero, the European Union is setting ambitious targets with respect to its own environmental footprint. For instance, by 2030 the EU is looking to reduce European greenhouse gas emissions by at...
The revised market risk framework – also known as the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (‘FRTB’) – not only impacts an institution’s regulatory capital charge calculation for market risk, but also affects operational, governance and business strategies. FRTB brings...
One of the major challenges of IBOR transition is the availability of historical data on alternative risk-free rates (RFRs) required to implement interest rate model changes or re-calibration. With the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) only published since April 2018,...
Over recent years, technology and software have become strategic assets for competitiveness and resilience in the banking sector. Institutions have no choice but to invest to develop and deliver innovative services whilst managing ever greater IT and cybersecurity risks. The...
The Federal Reserve Board released stress test results for DFAST 2020 including additional sensitivity analysis, considering the COVID19 outbreak, to assess the resiliency of large banks under three hypothetical recessions, or downside scenarios, that could result from the coronavirus event....
With COVID-19, being declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, financial institutions have had to shift most of their resources to mitigate the risks that have arisen. This has adversely affected important activities, one of which is market participants’ efforts...
Impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic have reverberated across every part of the global economy. Small businesses are struggling to pay their employees, banks are grappling with collapsing local economies, and many borrowers across the nation cannot meet their monthly mortgage...
Gender equality, while not systematically embedded in national laws, is clearly set in European law. The Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) requires financial institutions to adopt a policy promoting diversity within their management bodies and, for the most significant ones, to...
The Risk-Free Rates Working Group (RFRWG) published an update on the impact of COVID-19 on the timeline for firm’s plans to transition away from GBP LIBOR on the 29th April. While the central assumption of LIBOR’s publication being ceased after...
The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) continues to support market participants in their efforts to transition from USD London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) towards the Securities Overnight Reference Rate (SOFR). Following the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) March 2020 statement that...
At first glance, regulatory authorities appear to have deprioritised the issue of climate change. However, a closer look would suggest otherwise and climate change in reality remains a key long-term priority of national and European regulators. In some areas, regulatory...
With banks no longer the weak link in the financial system, they now have a key role to play in supporting the real economy to survive the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The significant strengthening of prudential regulation over the...
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a public statement to announce the delay of the industry’s compliance with phase one of the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR). This is in response to ESMA’s awareness of the financial...
The Covid-19 outbreak and the unprecedented emergency it presents has created a unique threat to the world’s economy. Like all sectors, banking has been impacted, and its stakeholders have felt excessive pressure over the last few weeks to get things...
The expected 2021 disappearance of LIBOR requires robust fallback language for cash products and derivatives alike. Industry associations have taken initiatives to reform the historic fallback language of securities, with ISDA proactively leading the way on derivatives and national working...
Since Libor was first used in financial markets in 1986, it has become the foundation of the global interbank funding market. However, regulators ruled that Libor’s volatility during the last global financial crisis (GFC) and a rate-rigging crisis in 20121...
One year on since the HKFRS 9 standard on financial instruments came into force in Hong Kong and two years since the First Time Application (FTA), trends and insights into impacts of the standard are beginning to evolve. As a...
At the end of nearly two years of legislative work, the reform of the prudential regulation of investment firms completed its final phase with the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of two new regulatory texts: Regulation...
Under the terms of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB), a bank wishing to apply the Internal Modal Approach (IMA) to calculate its capital charge associated with market risk must carry out: backtesting on the Trading Book (TB)...
With Libor’s cessation date at the end of 2021 looming, global regulators are hastening their IBOR fallback strategies. Yet while market momentum has increased for multiple published RFR indices, among them the GBP SONIA, the EUR €STR, and the USD...
Financial market participants – at least the largest ones – are actively preparing for the expected discontinuation of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) after 2021. Transitioning towards a LIBOR-free world is a challenge that requires the involvement and coordination...
With little more than two years to go, Libor’s cessation date continues to near. The voluntary agreement of panel banks submitting to Libor will conclude at the end of 2021, from which risk-free rates (RFR) are expected to replace Libor...
Pierre Latrobe at Mazars discusses the measures the HKMA has taken so far to strengthen its macroprudential supervisory toolkit and address potential risks to the wider financial system. The Hong Kong economy is suffering from several lingering negative factors, the...
With significant IBOR reform on the horizon, Mazars brought together industry experts, practitioners and regulators to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face. Speakers included the Bank of England Market Division’s Alastair Hughes, EFRAG’s Didier Andries and Mazars’ IBOR lead,...
The British political landscape has been unsettled and uncertain. Boris Johnson defeated Theresa May in July 2019 to become Prime Minister with his “do or die” conviction for the UK’s exit from the EU, with or without a deal. While...
September 2018 saw the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the US corporate and investment bank that was symbolic of Wall Street. Its failure is still fresh in the mind, and marked a turning point for banking and...
A raft of recent consultations on Ibor reform indicates that we may finally be making some progress. We have seen the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) issue another round of consultations for Inter-Bank Offered Rates (IBORs) trying to solve...
During a meeting of the Special European Council on the 10 April 2019, EU leaders agreed to a flexible Brexit extension until 31 October 2019, to allow for the ratification of a withdrawal agreement. Despite this extension, there is still...
With 2019 marking a move for the European Banking Authority (EBA) to Paris in April, regulatory priorities will see the EBA preparing the work of transposing the last Basel III agreements. Following a quantitative and qualitative study, the Commission will be...
Brexit preparation is one of the largest undertakings that regulators and market participants have ever done, considering the uncertainty and the impact it carries. Many financial institutions have stopped waiting for lawmakers to finalise negotiations over the terms of the...
At the last G20 summit in Buenos Aires, leaders called for the full implementation of all major international financial reforms intended to improve the financial system, in particular, those drawn up by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Basel...
On March 11 and 12, 2019, Mazars attended the 30th annual conference organized by the Institute of International Bankers (IIB). Agencies and regulators serving as speakers and panelists this year, included: •The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) •The Department of the...
Today’s world is witnessing an explosion of data, including personal data: your civil status, what you do and don’t like, your holidays, your favourite leisure activities. The exploitation of all this data is multiplying through the use of innovative IT...
Following a majority vote against Theresa May’s Brexit deal on 15 January 2019, and with only 3 weeks until the proposed deadline of 29 March, financial services authorities in the UK and EU have been urgently preparing for an increasingly...
Could the transition period towards the new alternative Risk-Free Rates (RFRs) be more complex than initially envisaged? The speech given by Edwin Schooling Latter, Director of Markets and Wholesale Policy at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), on the 28 January...
Seven years after the first Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s (BCBS) consultative paper on the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) and three years after the publication of the revised Market Risk Framework, is the 14 January 2019 release...
With rising global temperatures[1] comes an ever-growing pressure on the financial services sector to respond and prepare for the far-reaching effects of climate change. The impacts upon the sector are already being felt – extreme weather events are creating significant...
Which is the more significant - the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, or the tenth anniversary of the opening of the App Store? For the global financial community world, 15 September 2008 is a key date, weighted...
In the second installation to our Brexit Watch, the delay of the House of Commons vote and subsequent negotiations increases uncertainty, with multiple possible scenarios set to emerge. Brexit preparation has been one of the largest undertakings for regulatory bodies...
On Friday 2 November, as expected, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published the results of the 2018 EU wide stress tests on European banks’ solvency in the event of macro-economic shocks. This was the fourth exercise of the now-biannual testing...
The sweeping growth and prolific collection of technologies that make up cryptoassets today have made it incredibly challenging for regulators worldwide to standardize and issue authoritative guidance. Professional accounting standard-setting bodies, like the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the...
As negotiations on the UK’s exit from Europe continue, albeit slowly, regulatory bodies in the UK and Europe are beginning to issue regulatory changes to cope with all eventualities, including the UK leaving Europe without a deal. As a result,...
While 2018 has witnessed some turmoil in the crypto-currency markets, interest in this new asset class - and also in investment funds which allow easy access to crypto-currencies - remains high. On 26 June 2018 CBOE Global Markets filed an...
Tax legislation generally includes promises to simplify the process of computing taxes. But in the process of transforming legislation into law, those good intentions often are overshadowed by new complexities. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is no...
The whole financial system relies on reference interest rates, more precisely on InterBank Offered Rates (IBORs) whose integrity and reliability have raised some concerns since the 2008 financial crisis and the LIBOR manipulation scandal. These IBORs are used to determine...
S.1255 the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “Senate Banking Bill”) was passed on March 14, 2018 after a strongly bipartisan 67-31 vote. On May 22, 2018, the House passed the Senate Banking Bill with 258 yeas...
In this podcast, Greg Simpson discusses the Prudential Regulatory changes proposed by Basel 3. Together with Phuong Gomard and Bowen Lu, regulatory specialists in Mazars’ Banking Consulting practice, they highlight the impact on the standardised approach to credit risk and...
The FinTech model is reaching a new level of maturity. The first stage saw them disrupt the traditional banking business models using technology to impact the customer experience and relationship. The second wave offers FinTechs the opportunity to expand their...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJA”), signed into law in December 2017, and applicable to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, contains several provisions that will have a significant impact on specific types of entities and investments. ...
It is truly amazing the turmoil 88 pages can produce. Yet while the whole Banking Industry is strongly opposed to some of the new Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) requirements, such as the Profit & Loss Attribution (PLA)...
The Solvency II Directive increases the requirements for transparency vis-à-vis both the regulatory authorities and the stakeholders, including policyholders, financial analysts and investors. In this context, insurance undertakings and groups were, for the first time, required to publish a narrative...
On 6 February 2018, EIOPA published its latest risk-free interest rate curve to be taken into account for the purposes of Solvency II calculations. Based on calculations for January 2018, the curve is slightly different from previously published curves. This...
Because of its importance in society, the insurance industry has always faced a considerable amount of regulatory requirements at the national (BaFin) and international (EIOPA) level. Although this is generally something to be welcomed, this also presents a range of...
On 7 December, after several years of negotiations (starting in 2012 with the market risk review), Mario Draghi, chair of the Basel Committee’s Group of Governors and Head of Supervision (G-HOS), announced the finalisation of the Basel III agreements. These...
Non-performing loans (NPLs) remain at the forefront of the European regulatory agenda, with two major consultations run by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission (EC) over the recent weeks, both in relation to the introduction of minimum...
PSD2 will supersede PSD1 on 13 January 2018, retaining key benefits from PSD1 such as increased competition with facilitated market entrance for regulated non-bank players, improved economies of scale, enhanced transparency, but also incorporating technological innovation, enhancements and protection into...
As recent as 26 September 2017, the European Banking Authority (EBA) under the Directive 2013/36/EU published its revised guidelines on harmonising the internal governance arrangements of banks across the European Union. The EBA Guidelines will apply as of 30 June...
One of the main differentiators FinTechs have is their current positioning within the financial services value chain ecosystem: they focus on customer experience while their operations execution and control activities are often outsourced to banking institutions. However, is this likely...
As chief risk officer and executive committee member of Atlas Insurance PCC, Ian-Edward Stafrace is passionate about effective enterprise risk management and seeking opportunity from risk. Here Alan Craig and Enrico Federici of Mazars in Malta, talk to him about...
A holiday photo on Instagram, a “like” on Facebook, a PayPal transfer to pay for your Airbnb, or just a bank card payment or an ATM withdrawal: every day, we feed data into greedy and enthusiastic algorithms that are gathering...
On September 27, 2017, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "Banking Agencies") issued a proposed joint rule to simplify several requirements in the Banking Agencies’ regulatory capital...
In August 2017, S&P Global Market Intelligence published an analysis of where banks will set up their European hubs. Germany, namely Frankfurt and Berlin, came first with 13 financial institutions. Dublin came a close second attracting 12 banks, insurers or...
A new prudential framework applicable to banks and credit institutions in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is set to come into force on 1 January 2018. However, a significant delay has been observed in implanting reforms in...
Reforms to an accounting system that has been in force for nearly 20 years will help to increase the security and robustness of the West African financial system, while improving the quality of financial reporting. The Revised Banking Chart of...
Despite “reform fatigue” and squeezed profit margins, financial services firms are dealing with a continued flood of regulation. Some are turning to new technologies for compliance help. In this article, written by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Mazars,...
The FX Global Code (Code) was finally published by the Foreign Exchange Working Group (FXWG)[1] on 25th May 2017, clearly laying down the guidelines for good practices in the FX Wholesale marketplace. With numerous scandals causing turbulence in the FX...
Along with Mazars banking regulatory advisory specialists Pauline Pelissier and Audrey Cauchet, Greg Simpson provides an overview of the banking regulatory outlook in the UK and Europe over the next 12 to 18 months. They also discuss IFRS9 in the...
The Asset Management industry is positioned to be the main focus of the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). On 28 June 2017, the FCA published the final report of its Asset Management Market Study. This follows on from the interim report...
Personal data security is increasingly important, but many companies may not be ready to comply with the EU’s tough new data protection laws, which must be implemented by May 2018. All EU businesses that handle data will have to comply...
Solvency, liquidity, transparency and oversight requirements: as the Basel Committee meeting in Santiago, Chile in November 2016 demonstrated, there is still much to be discussed on the finalisation of the Basel III agreements. However, the inauguration of the new President...
Examination Cycle for Certain Small Insured Depository Institutions and U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks Under $1 Billion in Total Assets. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”), and the Office of the Comptroller of...
After the Basel Committee consultation in October and then the European Commission’s legislative proposal of the package CRR II / CRD V in November 2016, the EBA has now given its opinion on the management impact of IFRS 9 on...
Background and issues The Cambridge dictionary defines 'infrastructure' as ‘the basic systems and services that a country or organisation uses to work effectively’. This rather broad definition covers a wide range of assets at the heart of economic activity: they...
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved a plan on November 15, 2016, to create the consolidated audit trail (“CAT”), a central data source to collect and accurately identify every order, cancellation, modification and trade execution for all exchange-listed equities...
Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) are a key issue and will continue to be on the European agenda as a top priority for a long time. On the one hand, the ECB guidelines are already applicable, as they represent a best practice...
On Wednesday 23 November, the European Commission presented its long-awaited revision of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV), including the regulatory changes that mark the finalisation of the Basel III agreements. This revision follows five years of...
The European Central Bank (“ECB”) recently launched public consultation on guidance to banks on non-performing loans (“NPL”). Consultation periods runs until 15 of November 2016. As NPL harms the profitability, funding and capital of banks and more globally the real...
On 1 January 2018, banks applying IFRSs move into a new era with the implementation of IFRS 9 on financial instruments, which will supersede the existing IAS 39. Although adopting this new standard will lead to many changes, it was...
On 20th October, I was delighted to chair an event in collaboration with OMFIF on the implications of Brexit for the financial services industry. We had an excellent panel of experts representing banks and asset managers as well as the...
On August 25, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) adopted amendments to various rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Act”). The amendments will be effective 60 days after the date of publication...
Saturday 1 October marked the 100th day since the result of the UK referendum to leave the European Union became known. And it seems neither the British nor their European neighbours have fully come to terms with the idea of...
Following the UK’s landmark referendum decision to leave the European Union, real estate investors have been dealing with the push and pull of post-Brexit market sentiment. Initial panic surrounding the outcome of the vote saw a raft of UK-based fund...
In the second of our blogs looking at how the UK’s decision to exit the EU is impacting key real estate locations, our experts shine a light on some of the challenges facing German real estate investors, as well as...
In the third of our blogs looking at how the UK’s decision to exit the EU is impacting key real estate locations, our experts outline some important post-Brexit political and practical considerations for French real estate investors. Need for visibility...
In the fourth of our blogs looking at how the UK’s decision to exit the EU is impacting key real estate locations, our experts in the US outline how the current lack of clarity opens the door of opportunity for...
Following the UK’s landmark referendum decision to leave the European Union, real estate investors have been dealing with the push and pull of post-Brexit market sentiment. Initial panic surrounding the outcome of the vote saw a raft of UK-based fund...
At a time when the European Banking Authority’s stress tests have provided valuable insights into the solvency levels of European banks, these banks are continuing their efforts to formalise the conceptual and operational framework of risk management. While changes in...
Brexit continues to be omnipresent. From British Airways’ Business Life (September 2016 p. 11-12, "Post Brexit, Brand Britain must show its mettle... and its sense of humour") to the Spectator, articles are a mixed cocktail of seeing Britain great again...
Over a beer with David Cameron in October last year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressed a very clear opinion on which way he wanted Britain’s vote on Brexit. He wanted a “prosperous Europe and a united EU” with the UK...
Greece’s financial systems have been tightly monitored by the institutions – once called the Troika – of ECB, IMF and EU Commission in recent years. The systemically relevant Greek banks are under close control of the Joint Supervisory Team (JST),...
Recently released guidelines require institutions to adopt risk-based programs to monitor and filter transactions for potentially suspicious activity. Beginning January 1, 2017, financial institutions registered under the New York banking law are responsible for complying with anti-terrorism transaction monitoring and...
The impact of Brexit on foreign banks, and especially the larger ones, has already been the subject of extensive media coverage and speculation. Discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of Brexit for larger overseas banks have been wide-ranging. Will the...
In previous weeks, I have commented mostly on early signs and emerging risks in the banking sector, including some early warning shots in the property space in particular. But banks and funds invest in many other types of assets and...
The Brexit debate last week was overshadowed by Theresa May becoming the UK’s new Prime Minister and some of her more radical appointments to her Cabinet. On top came the horrific terror attack in Nice and the failed coup d’état...
Brexit continues to dominate the political and financial world across Europe and beyond as people wrestle with its impact. But there’s another massive storm on the horizon for the EU that has been brewing for some time and Brexit may...
As implied in the BCBS consultative document on November 2015, the BCBS published new standards on 11 July 2016 to include amendments on STC securitisations and thus make its final decision for their calibration. The securitisation framework was highlighted in...
It’s two weeks since the Brexit Referendum and it’s fair to say that its consequences are already being felt. At a broad economic level, sterling has hit a 31 year low and economists have revised down the economic outlook for...
Basel 4 and Single Supervisory Mechanism act to reduce the excessive variability in the results of internal model approaches to credit risk. For more than ten years, Basel reform has encouraged the development and use of internal models designed to better...
Business funding diversification, helping to increase options for savers and making the economy more resilient are some of the main objectives set out in the European Commission’s Action Plan on Building a Capital Markets Union (CMU) published on 30 September...
On 6 April 2016, the Basel Committee published a new consultative document outlining revision plans for the calculation of the leverage ratio and submit proposals for additional requirements applicable to systemically important banks (G-SIBs). This new consultation comes as no...
Banks prepare for the reinforcement of prudential supervision via the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). After successive waves of new regulatory requirements in recent years, the outlook for the calculation of risks and Pillar 1 capital requirements is becoming clearer. At...
At the same time as regulators as a whole express their support for the harmonisation, transparency and comparability of banking models at the European level, a new consultative document published by the Basel Committee on 24 March 2016 partly calls...
The revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) that comes into force in January 2018 will essentially remove many of the barriers to new players looking to enter the payments market by providing access to customer data and accounts through an EEA...
UK Banks are already gearing up for the introduction of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) that comes into force in January 2018. By providing clear guidelines and regulations, the Directive essentially removes the barriers to new players and opens...
The number of electronic money players in the European market has increased in recent years, from 4 in 2010 up to 48 in 2014*. Add to this the fact that numerous players beyond the banking world have also created their...
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To be a ‘good bank’, a bank must be efficient, innovative and trustworthy. Given its central role at the heart of the economy and financial system and the risks associated with fulfilling its role, banks have to operate within an...
The last five years have been a time of much challenge and change for the Central Banking Fraternity in Europe. Crisis, both economic and political, has been followed by much adjustment and change, including both practical economic and policy interventions,...
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