Following the Rules

IA's Chris Cummings calls on lawmakers and regulators to agree a 'common vision' with the investment management sector and outlines the rules that must be cut in the drive to boost UK growth

Today’s guest calls on the government and City regulators to agree a “common vision” with the investment management industry to better enable those working in the sector to generate long-term growth in the UK.
He details the areas where he believes the Financial Conduct Authority “still needs to demonstrate that they have completely understood” the government’s drive to make the UK a more attractive investment destination.
He also explains why he supports calls to get rid of what he sees as unnecessary red tape introduced under the Senior Managers and Certification regime, and plenty more besides. 
Chris Cummings’ career spans four decades and includes several senior posts in the industry, as well as within global consulting firms. He was the founding chief executive of lobby group TheCityUK from 2010 until 2016 when he became CEO of the Investment Association, the trade body for UK-based investment managers.

Behavioural risk experts Dr. Wieke Scholten and David Grosse outline where the banking sector and its regulators are going wrong in their approach to managing their cultural concerns

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.  

UK Finance's David Postings on what should follow the government's drive to bolster the City's growth and competitiveness, and why it's time for Meta to step up its efforts to combat fraud

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. 

Special episode: Smarsh's Shaun Hurst and Paul Taylor on the mistakes finance bosses are making in their efforts to better track non-financial misconduct within their workforce, and how to avoid them

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.

Natixis' Britt Johnston and portfolio NED Tina Mavraki on the common mistakes finance bosses make when addressing conduct failings, and how regulators can stop cultural 'window dressing'

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

Former Standard Chartered global surveillance chief Emily Wright on banks' surveillance blind spots and how best to monitor them

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.

Special episode: Smarsh's Brandon Carl on the technology, regulatory challenges and industry trends shaping the future of communications surveillance

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

Conor Sewell, former Treasury advisor now Forefront Advisers director, outlines what City bosses and their regulators should expect under Labour

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.

PRA CEO Sam Woods on life at the helm of the UK's top finance regulator and his regulatory priorities for 2024 and beyond

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.
 

Former FCA CRO Gavin Stewart on the compliance risks that City watchdogs may have missed, and how UK regulation and regulatory operations should be improved

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.