Insights

As the world becomes increasingly digital, start-ups specializing in blockchain and fintech are transforming businesses across the board. Yet with constantly changing regulation and the need to compete with digital disruption, 2019 will be the year when regtech rises to the top of the agenda for the c-suite in financial institutions. ... read more

“We’re comfortable with how we allocate risk weighted assets. From our view it suggests it’s idiosyncratic to Metro Bank,” says Alastair Pate, head of investor relations at OneSavings Bank, commenting on Metro’s dramatic price plummet today. Metro Bank shares were down -37% at the time of publication. The high... read more

Rolling out new middle- and back-office technology should be a continuous process, but for some firms it’s more of a decennial event. The pace of change that has been set by regulators in recent years requires firms to fundamentally reassess their timescales and models for deployment. Going forward, fixed and... read more

Challenger banks in the UK could benefit from “simpler” regulation after the UK transitions out of the European Union to help them tackle larger incumbents, the chief executive officer of the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has suggested. In a roundtable speech last week, the banking supervisor spoke about how Brexit... read more

Over the past year of its implementation Open Banking remains a key concern of banks given the regulatory environment, the changing consumer patterns and the new fintech firms. It is becoming a need for banks to embrace digital transformation in this area to achieve more profitable operations. The banking industry is looking to achieve strong... read more

Having worked on many large-scale projects, nothing beats the feeling of completing something you have laboured over for months and years. The uphill struggle of battling complex requirements and trying to meet milestones, deadlines and budget gives way to a sense of achievement.  For most working on the second Markets in Financial Instruments... read more

Many banks have been reviewing their branch networks over the last five years. In 2019 banks will continue to review their locations – relocating away from underperforming areas and into new spots of higher footfall and with more demand for banking services, such as out of town shopping centres. Banks will continue to... read more

For buy-side firms, the need to manage operations with more efficiency has never been greater. Rising regulatory costs and fee compression driven by passive funds have caused asset managers to scrutinise every area of their processes like never before. The relationship between an asset manager and its vendor partners is one such domain that is... read more

The combined effects of Open Banking, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and developments within artificial intelligence could see banks offering life insurance. “The real challenge is synchronising banks’ data into the old and archaic insurance processes in the old insurance offices and ensuring incumbent insurers are... read more