Governance

Our top risks for financial services firms in 2024

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...

What’s driving financial firms’ sustainability strategies?

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...

Adapting governance to spearhead sustainability more effectively

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...

Equipping NEDs to challenge private investment valuations

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...

Sustainable finance series: Driving credible ESG actions

Implementing credible environmental, social and governance (ESG) actions requires successful enablers. So how can firms identify these enablers and, crucially, remove barriers to implementation? If we take our latest C-Suite Sustainability Barometer, we can see that out of the over...

Reimagining the office in the work from home era

The working environment has always been an important factor for companies' performance and their ability to attract talent. With the rise of remote work, this aspect has become critical: companies now have to ‘seduce’ staff to return to the office....

Are more stringent gender diversity measures required?

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...

TRIM: Is Winter Coming for Internal Models?

Measuring banking risks is a difficult exercise, but striking a balance between simplistic and overly complex measurement techniques is the key to accurate risk measurement. This was the substance of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Chair of the Supervisory Board,...

Digital finance: governance & blockchain

“Blockchain is a bit like gluten. Everyone is talking about it, but no one knows what it is,” said Tim Swanson, head of research at R3, the financial technology innovation firm that is leading a consortium partnership working on blockchain...

Digital Banking: Lessons from Millennials

By 2025, The Wall Street Journal ([1]) estimated that Generation Y, also known as Millennials, would represent nearly half of the total active population in the world. The challenge for banks is to adapt their strategy to match Generation Y...