Following the Rules: Recent Episodes
Lucy McNulty
An insider’s guide to the laws dictating life within UK and EU financial services, the people influencing their development and policing finance workers’ compliance
Regulation has never been under greater scrutiny. Around the world, governments are asking regulators to support growth and innovation while continuing to protect consumers, preserve financial stability and prevent the next crisis, and increasingly, to do all of it at once, as if the trade-offs between them didn't exist.
Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change.
Joining me are Lyndon Nelson, former Deputy CEO of the Prudential Regulation Authority and Executive Director at the Bank of England, where he spent more than 30 years in senior regulatory and supervisory roles, and Gavin Stewart, a former senior leader at the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority, including serving as the FCA's Chief Risk Officer. Together, they are the authors of Building Better Regulators: The Art of the Impossible.
In this episode, we discuss why regulation is fundamentally about managing trade-offs rather than eliminating risk, why regulators remain among the least understood public institutions, and what happens when political pressure demands growth, competitiveness and stability all at once, without acknowledging that something has to give.
Whether you work in regulation, financial services or public policy, this episode offers a practical and timely perspective on what it really takes to build better regulators.
You can pre-order Building Better Regulators: The Art of the Impossible here.
You can play the enforcement game Lyndon mentions here.
Today's episode is a special one, produced in association with Smarsh, a technology firm that helps financial institutions capture, govern and monitor their communications.
This episode forms part of our Following the Rules: How To series, focused on practical guidance for firms navigating legal, regulatory and technological change.
Today we're discussing Smarsh's new 2026 AI Trends Study, conducted by FTI Consulting, which argues that communications data is moving from being a regulatory obligation to one of an organisation's most valuable strategic assets. But it also highlights a growing challenge. While firms are racing to deploy AI, governance is struggling to keep pace. Communications data remains fragmented, shadow AI is creating new blind spots, and many compliance teams are being asked to manage risks they were never designed to oversee.
So what does good AI governance actually look like? How do firms unlock the value of communications data without creating new regulatory risks? And what should compliance leaders be doing now to build the right foundations for AI?
Joining me to discuss this is Goutam Nadella, Chief Strategy Officer at Smarsh. We explore the report's findings, why AI governance starts with data governance, and why the firms that get this right may find compliance becoming a competitive advantage, rather than simply a control function.
Today’s episode is a little different to normal. It’s a recording of a panel discussion I was Invited to moderate a recent event convened by the Managed Funds Association or MFA, the global trade body for the alternative asset management industry, and organised by POLITICO.
The discussion brought together senior figures from across financial services, regulation and policymaking to explore one of the biggest questions facing the UK today: how to balance growth, competitiveness and financial stability. We discussed whether the UK’s regulatory reforms are delivering on their ambitions, the role of regulators in supporting innovation, the future of UK capital markets, and what it will take for the UK to remain a leading global financial centre.
I hope you enjoy it.
Today’s guest argues that one of the biggest risks facing financial services isn’t market volatility or even regulatory complexity. It’s the growing politicisation of the rulebook around the world.
As geopolitical tensions rise and regulatory regimes increasingly diverge, he warns that firms are being forced to navigate a world where consistency and predictability can no longer be taken for granted. From the UK’s search for competitiveness to deregulation in the US and a different trajectory in Europe, he explains why fragmentation is becoming a strategic challenge for legal and compliance teams.
He also reflects on how the role of legal and compliance is changing. Increasingly, it is about helping businesses navigate uncertainty, exercise judgment and build cultures where challenge, escalation and accountability are embedded long before problems emerge. And as AI reshapes the way firms identify risk, he discusses how new technologies could transform compliance functions while also raising expectations of what firms should be able to see and prevent.
Chris Barlow’s 30-year career includes more than two decades at international bank Nomura, where he now guides its Europe, Middle East and Africa business through regulatory change, market disruption and evolving risk landscapes as a Managing Director, and Nomura’s General Counsel for EMEA, Joint Wholesale Chief Compliance Officer and Head of Legal and Compliance for the bank’s EMEA operations.
Today’s episode is produced in association with Willis, one of the world’s leading risk advisory, broking and solutions businesses.
It is also part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change.
Insurance has traditionally been viewed as a way of transferring risk. But for financial institutions facing rising regulatory scrutiny, growing cyber threats and the rapid emergence of AI, insurance is now becoming a much more strategic board level issue. Boards are increasingly expected to understand exactly what they’re buying, what it covers and how it fits into the firm’s wider resilience strategy.
So what does good insurance governance actually look like? How should firms decide what cover they need? How much is enough? And as risks become more interconnected, where are the biggest gaps beginning to emerge?
Joining us to discuss these questions are three experts in the field.
Claire Nightingale is a former bank General Counsel and Head of Global Banking Compliance who now helps financial institutions navigate and recover complex insurance claims as Global Head of FINEX Financial Institutions Claims Advocacy at Willis. Andrew Hill is a former insurance lawyer who now leads Willis’ Cyber Coverage and Innovation team alongside its AI coverage strategy. And Paul Search is a Managing Director at Willis, specialising in operational risk, insurance strategy and capital optimisation.
Together, they unpack why insurance is becoming a board-level issue in entirely new ways, and what firms need to do now to stay ahead.
Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series exploring how financial institutions can navigate legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change in practice.
In this episode, we look at why traditional approaches to compliance training are increasingly falling short in a regulatory environment focused on culture, conduct and behavioural risk.
Against this backdrop, firms are now facing difficult questions. Why do so many training programmes fail to change behaviour in practice? Where are institutions most exposed when culture and compliance fall out of step? And how can organisations create environments where people feel confident to speak up before problems escalate?
Joining me to explore these questions is Alison Sneddon, an employment lawyer and workplace investigations specialist who has spent her career advising financial institutions on whistleblowing, culture, employee misconduct and regulatory risk. She is also the founder of Conduct Counsel, a specialist training provider for financial institutions.
Together, we discuss why traditional compliance training is often missing the mark, how the FCA’s new non-financial misconduct rules are changing expectations, and what firms need to do now to build cultures that are genuinely respectful, psychologically safe, and regulator-ready
For more on Conduct Counsel: www.conductcounsel.com
Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change.
In this episode, we turn to a role that has quietly but fundamentally shifted over the past decade: the Chief Compliance Officer. Once seen primarily as a control function, compliance is now expected to sit at the centre of strategy, shaping decisions, influencing culture, and helping firms navigate an increasingly complex and fast-moving regulatory environment.
But while expectations have evolved, practice has not always kept pace. Many firms are still grappling with how to move beyond checklist compliance, how to prioritise effectively in the face of competing demands, and how to embed compliance thinking into everyday decision-making, not just frameworks and documentation.
So what does good look like in practice? Why do compliance programmes still struggle to deliver consistent, decision-useful insight? And how can firms reposition compliance as an enabler of sustainable business, rather than a cost centre?
Joining me to explore these questions are Natalie McManus-Barnett, a former regulator at the Financial Services Authority and senior compliance leader at Citigroup, now founder of thought leadership institute Innovate Compliance, and Jennifer Geary, a former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Risk Officer with senior roles at Barclays and Santander, now a non-executive director and author of five best-selling books in the C-Suite series.
Together, they have brought their experience into a new book, How to Be a Chief Compliance Officer, which sets out a practical framework for modern compliance leadership.
If you are thinking about how to make your compliance function more effective, more credible, and more aligned with business strategy, this episode is for you.
More on The C Suite Framework: https://csuiteframework.co.uk/
More on Innovate Compliance: https://www.innovatecompliance.co.uk/
Today’s guest argues that after decades of regulatory expansion, compliance is still failing at the basics. From incomplete client records to fragmented legacy systems, he warns that poor data remains one of the industry’s most persistent, and underestimated, risks.
He challenges the industry’s growing reliance on process, questioning whether accountability regimes and surveillance have come at the expense of judgment, culture and open challenge - the very things that prevent problems before they crystallise.
And he explores what happens as technology accelerates ahead of understanding, from AI-driven efficiency to the rise of crypto, warning that regulators and firms alike risk falling behind the businesses they are meant to oversee.
Mark Taylor began his career at the Securities and Futures Authority, a predecessor to the Financial Conduct Authority, and spent two decades at Goldman Sachs in various senior compliance positions including its EMEA Head of Financial Crime Compliance. Since 2023, he has run consultancy Ibex Compliance as its partner.
Today’s episode is a special one, produced in association with Smarsh, an AI technology firm providing global financial institutions with tools to capture, store and monitor their communications across 100+ channels.
This episode is part of our ‘Following the Rules: How To’ series, focused on practical guidance for firms navigating legal, regulatory and technological change.
In this episode, we turn to trader voice - a mission-critical part of market infrastructure now under growing pressure as trading evolves, with hybrid working, mobile devices, multiple platforms, shorter settlement cycles, and increasing regulatory scrutiny around supervision, auditability and operational resilience.
That raises some important questions.
Are the voice systems many firms still rely on fit for today’s environment?
What does good look like under current regulatory expectations?
And how should firms be thinking about surveillance, data and defensibility as scrutiny continues to increase?
Joining me to discuss this are Eric Wiggins, product marketing director at Smarsh, and Shaun Hurst, principal regulatory advisor at Smarsh.
They share their perspectives on how the risk profile of trader voice has changed, where legacy infrastructure falls short, and what firms should be doing now to build voice frameworks that are genuinely regulator-ready.
Today’s guest is better known to the FBI as ‘Tipper X’, a former hedge fund analyst who became a key cooperating witness in the largest insider trading enforcement sweep in a generation, helping authorities bring cases against more than 80 individuals.
In this episode, he explains why market abuse is rarely a single rogue act. Instead, it’s an incremental process, driven by performance pressure, network drift and the quiet normalisation of ethical grey zones. Drawing on his experience inside a hedge fund, inside a federal investigation and now advising firms and regulators, he argues the industry remains too focused on detecting bad trades rather than preventing bad decisions.
He challenges compliance leaders to look beyond surveillance dashboards, to measure culture as seriously as they measure transactions, and to rethink escalation pathways before misconduct crystallises. And he urges regulators to invest as heavily in prevention and human insight as they do in enforcement technology.
Tom Hardin now works with boards and compliance teams globally, helping them spot the warning signs before misconduct becomes a headline. He is also the author of Wired on Wall Street, which tells the story behind the codename ‘Tipper X’.
Want to read Tom’s book? Find out more here: https://www.tipperx.com/book
Today’s guest sets out the Financial Conduct Authority’s to-do list for 2026 and beyond.
She details the watchdog’s plans to future-proof UK financial regulation, and outlines what City firms should expect as landmark reforms, including new rules on non-financial misconduct, begin to bed down.
She discusses the FCA’s efforts to build a more open relationship with financial institutions and explains why a more collaborative partnership between regulator and regulated is crucial in the face of unprecedented and rapidly evolving geopolitical, technological and market risks currently shaping financial services.
She also outlines how the watchdog is balancing growth and competitiveness with its core duty to protect consumers and markets and explains why it will continue to push for clearer political accountability to support that task.
Sarah Pritchard’s near three-decade career includes senior roles at banking giant HSBC and the UK’s National Crime Agency. She joined the FCA in 2021 to lead its Supervision, Policy and Competition division and was appointed the regulator’s first Deputy Chief Executive in 2025.
Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change.
In this episode, we turn to one of the most challenging and fast-evolving areas of regulatory focus: non-financial misconduct. With the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority set to introduce new rules this year that explicitly bring serious non-financial misconduct within scope of the conduct rules, expectations on firms to identify NFM, address it early, and evidence fair and consistent outcomes are rising fast. And this isn’t just a UK story: regulators globally are paying much closer attention to culture, behaviour and individual conduct.
So what does good look like when regulatory guidance is deliberately principles-based? Why are firms still struggling to translate expectations into defensible decisions? And how can they respond to lower-level misconduct in a way that genuinely supports culture, rather than quietly undermining it?
Joining me to explore these questions are:
- Emily Wright, a compliance and conduct consultant with over 20 years’ experience, including senior roles at Standard Chartered, JP Morgan and ICAP, and,- Emma Parry, the Founder and CEO of NovaFin Consulting and former Global Head of Product Governance and Conduct in HSBC’s Global Banking and Markets division.
Together, we unpack what the FCA’s rule changes mean in practice, where firms are getting stuck, and why remediation, not just punishment, is becoming a critical part of the conduct conversation. We also discuss the launch of the Conduct Compass, a new framework designed to help firms address non-financial misconduct earlier, more consistently, and in a way that drives real behavioural change.
If you’re grappling with how to make conduct frameworks work on the ground, and how to get ahead of regulatory expectations on culture, this episode is for you.
Download the Conduct Compass white paper here: https://go.ewrightconsulting.com/free-conduct-compass-wp-lm
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Symphony, a secure and compliant communications and markets technology provider, offering messaging, voice, directory and analytics for financial markets and trading teams.
It also forms part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change.
In this episode, we turn to a part of market infrastructure that is mission-critical but often overlooked: trader voice. As firms grapple with hybrid working, rising regulatory expectations, and growing scrutiny around operational resilience and third-party risk, the case for modernising legacy voice technology is becoming harder to ignore.
So why has trader voice remained so static for so long? What has changed to make transformation both possible and necessary? And how should firms be thinking about compliance, surveillance, and governance as they move away from traditional on-premise turret systems?
Joining me to explore these questions are:
Ben Chrnelich, CEO and president at Symphony, and
Antoine Stephen, head of product management for Symphony's Cloud9.
Together, they share their perspectives on the regulatory pressures shaping investment in trader voice, the practical realities of moving to cloud-based and software-driven solutions, and how data, analytics and AI are set to reshape voice communications on the trading floor in the years ahead.
Today’s guest is leading the UK’s audit regulator through reform without the legislative powers originally promised. Two years into the job, he argues the Financial Reporting Council is acting anyway, using proportionate, common-sense regulation to support growth and investment.
He sets out a pragmatic agenda for keeping UK audit credible and relevant, covering everything from market concentration and SME audits to AI and the future talent pipeline.
He explains why the watchdog has stripped back governance and stewardship codes, warning that over-prescription has driven box-ticking and weakened board accountability. He defends comply-or-explain as a strength of the UK system and urges companies to be braver in using it.
And he renews his call for political action to back his reform agenda in peacetime, before the next corporate failure forces Parliament’s hand.
Richard Moriarty is Chief Executive of the FRC, the UK regulator responsible for audit, corporate reporting and governance.
Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules, produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape.
The series offers practical insights to help firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change.
Today, we’re examining one of the most complex shifts in modern financial regulation: the process of bringing crypto into the regulatory perimeter.
Across the UK, EU and US, policymakers are rewriting the rulebook at pace - not only to manage risk, but also to reflect the rapid developments in digital finance. For firms, that means heavier compliance obligations, shifting expectations, and a genuine opportunity to help shape the rules ahead.
So what should businesses be preparing for now? Which parts of the regulatory agenda will hit hardest in the coming months? And how do firms avoid the strategic and structural mistakes that can derail applications or push innovation offshore, while positioning themselves to benefit from clearer rules?
To help unpack all of that, we’re joined by two people at the centre of developments:
Gordon Ritchie, is a Managing Associate in the UK financial regulation team at Simmons & Simmons, advising firms across the evolving UK and EU crypto regimes; and
Tom Duff Gordon, is Vice President for International Policy at Coinbase, leading the crypto exchange’s engagement with governments and regulators globally as they design the next generation of digital-asset rules.
Together, they explore where the regulatory landscape is heading, how business models will need to adapt, and what firms can do today to be ready for, and benefit from, the regulatory wave ahead.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...
Today’s guest delivers a blunt warning to policymakers, arguing the UK has made “a massive mistake” by failing to stop trading venues from charging for market data - a failure she says has weakened the country’s competitiveness. She calls on the government to “wake up and listen” to the scale of the issue or risk losing ground to rival financial centres.
She also argues that the industry’s fixation on blockchain as a panacea to everything has been a decade-long distraction. She sees the real shift now reshaping markets as the move to 24/7 global trading, clearing and settlement. City bosses, she warns, must prepare now by overhauling legacy systems, or risk becoming obsolete.
And she sets out a bold vision for London: to use its existing market infrastructure to become the trusted global venue where any asset can be traded and transferred safely, 24/7, between counterparties.
Niki Beattie has been at the forefront of market infrastructure transformation throughout her career of more than 30 years in financial markets, including more than a decade as Head of EMEA Market Structure at Merrill Lynch International. She founded consultancy Market Structure Partners in 2008 and has extensive experience as Non Executive Director and Chair of public and privately listed firms in the international financial sector. She is currently Chair of ClearToken, the UK digital-asset clearing and settlement house and a non executive Director of the Financial Markets Standards Board.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...
Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape.
The series offers practical insights to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change.
In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most intense moments a business can face - a dawn raid.
When Nick Ephgrave took over as Director of the UK Serious Fraud Office in 2023, he’s pledged “swifter action and more dawn raids” - a clear signal that the agency is refocusing on proactive, visible enforcement.
But what does a dawn raid actually look like in practice? How should firms respond when investigators appear unannounced at the door? And how can businesses prepare, both legally and culturally, for such a high-pressure event?
To answer these questions, we’re joined by two experts on the topic:
- Camilla de Silva, who spent over five years at the SFO, rising to Joint Head of the SFO’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption division, before joining Simmons & Simmons in 2020 as a Partner in its Disputes and Investigations group. Since 2023, she has lead Simmons & Simmons’ Corporate Crime and Global Investigations group; and,
- Emma Isaac, who worked as criminal legal adviser before moving to the SFO in 2013. In February, she became a member of the agency’s senior leadership team when she was appointed Joint Head of the SFO’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption division.
Together, they discuss how enforcement dynamics are shifting, what mistakes companies tend to make under pressure, and what practical steps legal and compliance teams can take today to be ready if the SFO comes knocking.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...
Today’s guest outlines how the accelerating pace of regulatory change poses significant challenges for global financial institutions. He highlights that fragmentation can create a complex landscape for banks’ compliance divisions, and underscores the benefits of adopting a more coordinated, risk-based approach to rulemaking.
He also discusses how the industry could best evolve the traditional three lines of defence model, how banks can better anticipate risks and how banks and regulators can collaborate to achieve an effective balance between protecting markets and promoting growth.
Graham Kent’s career spans three decades and includes seven years as a lawyer at Clifford Chance. He joined Deutsche Bank’s legal department in 2006. He has since held several senior roles across the bank’s legal and compliance divisions before becoming its Group Chief Compliance Officer in 2024.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...
Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape.
The series offers practical insights to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change.
In this episode, we explore two closely-linked developments set to reshape the compliance agenda: reforms to the UK’s senior managers regime, and the FCA’s new rules on toxic workplace behaviour, which will bring bullying, harassment, and discrimination within the scope of regulatory misconduct from 2026.
So, what do these changes mean for senior managers and their teams? How can firms strike the right balance between cutting red tape and maintaining strong accountability? And how should legal, compliance and HR functions prepare for regulator’s growing focus on culture and non-financial misconduct?
Joining me to discuss these questions are:
Penny Miller, who leads Simmons & Simmons' UK business and is a partner in its Financial Services Regulatory Group, advising global banks and asset managers on complex UK and cross-border regulatory issues and, Andrea Finn, a partner who heads the UK Employment and Pensions Group at Simmons & Simmons, specialising in employment and conduct matters, with extensive experience helping firms navigate the overlap between regulatory and employment law.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a technology firm providing global financial institutions with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
It’s part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical guidance to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change.
In this episode, we look at a hot-button issue for regulators on both sides of the Atlantic: how banks and investment firms monitor voice communications. Even in an era of instant messaging, the most sensitive deals are still struck over the phone. And that makes voice communications a prime focus for watchdogs worried about misconduct and recordkeeping failures.
I’m joined by Ryan Kahan, the executive vice president of voice interactions at Smarsh, who has spent decades helping financial institutions navigate the complexities of voice recording and surveillance. We discuss why regulators are ramping up pressure on firms to capture and store calls, the common mistakes banks make when trying to upgrade their systems, how new technology could transform the field, and what practical steps firms should be taking now to stay ahead.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape.
It also forms part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change.
In this episode, we turn to the future of work – an area moving rapidly up the agenda. A 2024 survey by the Bank of England and the FCA found that 75% of UK-regulated firms are already deploying or trialling AI and machine learning, particularly in areas like anti-money laundering, and fraud detection. By 2025, firms are beginning to explore more sophisticated and complex use cases.
So how will AI reshape the role of legal and compliance teams in financial services? What steps can organisations take to future-proof these functions as innovation accelerates? And what are the risks of failing to adapt?
Joining us to share their insights are:
Charlotte Stalin, the head of Simmons & Simmons’ financial institutions sector, who advises leading global investment firms and banks on financial services regulation, having joined the firm in 2006.
Sarah James, a Partner at Simmons & Simmons, who since 2016 has also led the firm’s flexible legal resource business, Adaptive, as its Global Head.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...
Today’s guest discusses how some wholesale financial institutions may be unnecessarily “gold-plating” their efforts to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty regime.
She details how the regulator plans to both clarify and simplify its expectations of all firms subject to the far-reaching ruleset.
She also discusses the FCA’s plans to help firms, both large and small, navigate the rapid deployment of AI tools across financial services and explains why inclusive product design is important for firms to get right.
Charlotte Clark’s career includes stints overseeing policy on various aspects of pensions regulation at HM Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions, as well as four years as director of regulation at lobby group the Association of British Insurers. She joined the FCA in November 2024 to lead its work on consumer strategy, and broader policy affecting firms across all sectors as the watchdog’s director for cross-cutting policy and strategy.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a technology firm providing global financial institutions with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
It also marks the launch of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change.
We’re kicking off with a deep dive into non-financial misconduct - a growing area of regulatory focus. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority now considers toxic workplace behaviour, such as bullying, harassment, and discrimination, to be conduct that could impact a person’s fitness for regulated roles and signal broader cultural failings. From 2026, the FCA will begin supervising serious cases more closely.
So how can firms of all sizes effectively detect, respond to, and minimise non-financial misconduct within their businesses? How do you define what counts as serious bullying or discrimination? And how can organisations ensure change is meaningful, not just a box-ticking exercise?
Today’s guests are experts in the subject.
Shaun Hurst is Smarsh’s Principal Regulatory Advisor, with a background in managing technology for Citigroup’s security and investigations teams in Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Emily Wright is a compliance and conduct consultant with over 20 years' experience, including overseeing compliance and surveillance programmes at financial services giants Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, and ICAP.
Today’s guest outlines where governments and financial regulators are going wrong in their supervision of the sector.
He details where he sees potentially systemic risks mounting and he explains what banks, financial institutions and their supervisors can do now to prevent a significant blow-up from occurring on their watch.
Mark Watson is a governance and risk expert whose three-decade career includes stints advising financial institutions on governance and non-financial risks on behalf of consulting giants McKinsey and EY. In 2022, he joined Silicon Valley Bank, to lead a redesign of its management decision-making as its head of management governance. Since the bank’s collapse in 2023, he has been advising financial institutions on corporate governance, risk management, and financial services regulation as the founder of Portcullis Consulting.
Today’s guest explains why global standards for financial conduct could help counter the risk of rising regulatory fragmentation - providing, as he puts it, “the glue to hold diverging rule books together.”
He outlines how a robust governance framework could help financial institutions better tackle toxic workplace behaviour. He explains why he believes a central repository for authenticated data may be key to fighting AI-generated fakes.
And he opens up about the Financial Markets Standards Board’s ambitions to expand its global footprint and its membership.
Myles McGuinness’s 30-year career includes two decades - and several senior roles - at UK lender NatWest Markets. He spent two years establishing the bank’s capital markets business in Europe as its EMEA head of Financing and Risk Solutions before leaving in 2021 to lead the FMSB as its CEO.
Today’s guest calls on regulators and policymakers to stop seeking to regulate alternative asset managers like they’re banks.
She details how policymakers can best rethink the regulatory framework for the non-bank sector to benefit not only alternative asset managers but also the financial sector more broadly.
And she explains how a push to harmonise the rulebooks between competing financial hub could also help with a broader push to bolster jurisdictional competitiveness.
Jillien Flores is a regulatory affairs specialist whose 17-year career includes seven years at government relations firm Porterfield, Lowenthal, Fettig & Sears where she helped to shape several of the US’s landmark regulatory response to the 2008 financial crisis, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
She spent six years advocating on regulatory issues for asset manager Vanguard before leaving in 2021 to join the Managed Funds Association, a trade group representing the world's biggest hedge funds, where she now serves as Chief Advocacy Officer.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation
Today’s guest pinpoints the “very technical” but overly complex regulatory requirements underpinning financial markets that he believes regulators could rethink to generate “big savings” for both themselves and the market participants they oversee.
He discusses the lessons he would like to see industry players take on board and the changes he believes policymakers should consider in their efforts to prevent a repeat of recent high-profile failures including the collapse of Swiss lender Credit Suisse and family office Archegos.
And he should know. Because Edwin Schooling Latter’s career not only includes just over a decade overseeing critical aspects of wholesale market policy and supervision on behalf of the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority but also eight months as Credit Suisse’s primary relationship manager with the Prudential Regulation Authority and the FCA during the bank’s collapse.
He spent a year as senior international policy adviser at UBS, following its acquisition of Credit Suisse, before joining Japanese bank Mizuho in late 2024 as its UK head of compliance.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation
Today’s guest discusses the European Securities and Markets Authority’s to-do list for 2025, and she explains the regulator’s priorities as it responds to an EU-wide effort to simplify the bloc’s rulebook.
She outlines ESMA’s expectations of market participants subject to its landmark reforms on digital operational resilience and crypto-assets and she details how she plans to make sure both regimes are implemented in as effective a way as possible.
She also opens up about life at the helm of the EU watchdog, her strategies for navigating “difficult market periods” and plenty more besides.
Verena Ross’s 30-year career includes roles helping to shape various aspects of financial services policy at regulators including the Bank of England and FCA predecessor the Financial Services Authority. She joined ESMA in 2011 and has been the organisation’s chair since November 2021.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation
Today’s guest outlines how he expects financial services regulators in the UK and European Union to react to President Trump’s increasingly erratic policymaking.
He details the regulatory changes he believes are needed to ensure the UK government achieves its growth mission and he highlights what Brussels must get right if the EU is serious about remaining globally competitive.
He also explains why it is imperative that governments — from London to Washington — pay close attention to the quiet storm building in global bond markets.
Mathew Gilbert brings two decades of experience to this conversation, including roles at hedge fund Abaco Asset Management and boutique investment bank KBW. Since 2016, he has led government policy and regulatory strategy firm Capstone’s European operations from London, advising financial institutions’ C-suites, and investors navigating today’s fast-evolving regulatory landscape.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...
Today’s guest is on a mission to bring ethics and compliance to the top table.
She explains why ethics and compliance professionals should be given a seat in the boardroom and what’s stopping them from getting there.
She also discusses how businesses and their compliance executives can best navigate today’s increasingly fragmented regulatory environment, and she shares practical steps boards can take to embrace ESG and DEI principles amidst ongoing backlash without getting caught in the crossfire.
Vera Cherepanova has spent two decades working in audit, compliance, and ethics, including roles at global professional services firm EY and as an independent adviser to companies worldwide. Since 2024, she has worked as the executive director of Boards of the Future, a nonprofit working with boards, professionals, and investors in the US, UK, and EU to ensure ethics, compliance, and risk experts have a voice in corporate governance.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...
Today’s guest explains how the world’s largest interdealer brokers is rethinking its approach to surveillance.
He outlines the benefits of adopting a more behaviourally led methodology to monitor financial services workers’ conduct, which he says provides a more holistic view of workplace culture when run alongside traditional surveillance.
He details the common mistakes finance bosses should avoid when seeking to measure workplace conduct and culture. And he discusses what guidance the Financial Conduct Authority must provide the market to ensure its efforts to more closely track City worker’s non-financial misconduct are truly effective.
Nik Bunney spent just under 13 years as a broker before moving into compliance monitoring in 2018. He joined broking giant TPICAP in 2023 and since 2024, he has run its targeted surveillance team. He will be explaining exactly what it is that department does in this episode.
Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...
PODCAST NOTES
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
ABCD: Finding Happiness through Awareness, Values, Principles, and Actions
Today’s guest outlines how the compliance function, and those working within it, can best navigate today’s rapidly changing technological and regulatory environment.
She discusses the industry's response to increasing regulatory scrutiny around surveillance as well as on bankers’ non-financial misconduct.
And she explains why in amongst all the change it is critical that compliance officers do not to lose sight of the “foundational building blocks” of their role.
Melissa Gallagher has spent 30 years working in various compliance roles most recently at large US banks in London. With a background in sales and trading compliance, she has run the compliance and operational risk function in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for US banking giant JP Morgan since 2019.
Today’s guest outlines how he expects the rightward shift in global politics, from Trump’s resurgence to Europe’s own populist movements, is likely to reshape financial services regulation in the UK and EU.
He discusses how bank lobbyists and policymakers can navigate these shifting tides, why the industry’s “disturbing” response to the US ban on federal diversity and inclusion programmes must serve as a wake-up call, and how he believes UK and EU policymakers can best drive growth in this era of rising political uncertainty.
And he should know. Because Alan Houmann’s near 40-year career includes stints as an economist at the UK Treasury, advising the European Commission and FCA predecessor the Financial Services Authority on financial services policy, and 16 years leading government affairs across EMEA for US banking giant Citigroup. Since 2023, he has worked as a trustee for thinktank Chatham House and in 2024 he became senior policy adviser to consultancy Rud Pedersen.
Today’s guest outlines why she believes the government’s efforts to boost the UK’s economic growth are more likely to succeed if they include a fundamental shift in how the City talks about its capital markets and a rethink of how the City’s regulators are incentivised to support the growth mission.
She also discusses the remaining regulatory steps needed to encourage more retail and domestic participation in London’s capital markets, and ultimately give the UK’s equity capital markets a long-anticipated boost.
Julia Hoggett’s career includes several senior roles at some of the world’s largest banks, and a seven-year stint at the Financial Conduct Authority. Since 2021, she has run the London Stock Exchange as its CEO.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a global technology firm providing financial services companies of all sizes around the world with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
Today’s guests discuss the regulatory priorities they believe will have the greatest influence on financial institutions’ communications surveillance programmes in 2025 and beyond.
They detail the common mistakes finance bosses must avoid when seeking to respond to these increasing regulatory demands.
And they outline how the vast volumes of communications data currently being gathered by financial institutions for compliance purposes can also be used strategically to help these same institutions grow their businesses.
Kim Crawford Goodman is CEO of Smarsh. Ryan Kahan is co-founder and CEO of CallCabinet, a technology firm recently acquired by Smarsh, which captures voice and video communications data.
Today’s guest discusses the Financial Conduct Authority’s to-do list for 2025 and outlines what City firms should and should not expect from the regulator as it seeks to prioritise growth and competitiveness in the coming months.
He details the challenges commensurate with this new approach that he would like lawmakers to be more aware of.
He also opens up about life at the helm of the City watchdog, his strategies for copying with the “intense public scrutiny” that has dominated his tenure as CEO of the FCA, and plenty more in between.
Nikhil Rathi’s 23-year career includes several senior roles within previous Labour, Conservative and coalition governments’ Treasury departments and just under five years as chief executive of the London Stock Exchange plc.
Since 2020, he has overseen regulation of the UK financial services sector as CEO of the FCA.
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.
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.
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.
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 principle 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Symphony, a secure and compliant communications and technology platform built for financial markets & trading teams.
Today’s guest details how bosses at some of the world’s largest financial institutions are responding to increasing regulatory pressure to keep track of their employees’ communications across myriad messaging platforms.
He outlines how compliance professionals and their bosses should best navigate the rapid proliferation of AI tools within the financial services sector. And details how he expects communications surveillance compliance to develop in response to the challenges ahead in 2024 and beyond.
Ben Chrnelich is president and chief financial officer at Symphony.
With just days to go until the UK goes to the polls, today’s guest outlines what City executives can expect from a Labour administration. He discusses how he expects the relationship between the new government and finance watchdogs to develop and why regulators may well see a new secondary objective land on their plate.
He also details how he believes relations between the UK and the European Union will change following elections in the bloc, and will change following elections in the bloc, in ways that could ultimately be beneficial to the financial services sector.
Sander Schol’s 20-year career includes stints helping to decipher policymakers and governments’ approach to financial services for bosses at some of Europe’s largest financial institutions, including JP Morgan and BGC Partners. Since 2021, he has advised businesses on policy relating to financial and digital services as head of European public affairs at political consultancy Hanbury Strategy.
Today’s guest calls on politicians on both sides of the UK’s political spectrum to reconsider their ambivalence towards the City and to do more to promote its achievements in the run up to next month’s election and beyond.
He outlines where fund managers and regulators may want to rethink their approach to investments within the environmental, social and governance space.
He also explains how finance workers can best navigate upcoming and increasing geopolitical volatility, and plenty more in between.
Saker Nusseibeh is Chief Executive of the London arm of Federated Hermes, a US investment manager with $778bn in assets under management. In 2020, he was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for services to Responsible Business and Finance.
Today’s episode is a recording of a recent panel discussion at the annual conference for the Quoted Companies Alliance, which is an organisation that campaigns for the UK’s community of small and midsized publicly traded businesses and the firms that advise them.
I was invited to moderate a panel on what more our regulators can do to support capital markets for companies of all sizes and we discussed where regulators and policymakers have hit the right mark in their efforts to bolster London’s capital markets, where they have missed opportunities, how market participants themselves need to step up to support their efforts and plenty more in between.
I hope you enjoy it.
Today’s episode is a little different to normal. It is a recording of a recent panel discussion from City Week’s AI in Financial Services Leaders Summit which took place in London last week.
I was invited to moderate a panel on the transformative potential of generative AI and we discussed interesting use cases for genAI in the financial services space, how boards and senior managers can best manage the risks relating to the new technology, how regulators could help market participants embrace the opportunities presented by GenAI responsibly and plenty more in between.
I hope you enjoy it.
Today’s guest outlines how he is shaping the Financial Reporting Council into a “more strategic” organisation focused on proportionate oversight of auditors, accountants and actuaries.
He explains what support he needs from lawmakers and industry as he navigates that task, alongside setting standards and codes in the public interest, and discusses the FRC’s changing regulatory priorities more broadly in the face of shifting political and market dynamics.
Richard Moriarty’s career spans three decades and includes stints as CEO of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority and as partner at political risk consulting firm Flint Global. In October 2023, he took over as CEO of the Financial Reporting Council.
Today’s guest discusses how lawmakers and financial services executives can best support the global transition to a net zero economy. She offers her views on how UK policymakers could encourage more companies to list in London.
She outlines how she believes the investment management industry should approach international investment decisions over the long term, and navigate upcoming and increasing geopolitical tension and political uncertainty globally.
She also offers advice on how to get comfortable being “the only woman in the room” in a male-dominated industry.
And she should know. Because over the course of a 23-year career, Sonja Laud has held several senior roles within the asset management industry including a stint as head of equity at Fidelity International. Since 2019, she has worked as Chief Investment Officer at Legal & General Investment Management.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Global Relay, a technology firm providing global financial services firms with the software to capture, store and monitor their employees’ communications.
Today’s guest discusses how financial institutions in the US and UK are responding to regulatory pressures to more closely track their employees’ communications, as well as to foster operational resilience and promote good conduct amongst their staff.
He explains why one particular compliance tool is proving especially effective in helping firms promote good behaviour amongst their workforce and outlines how some finance bosses are starting to push back on regulators’ aggressive record-keeping clampdown.
He also offers guidance on how financial institutions can best use technology to address their emerging compliance risks, including a check list of essential questions he believes everyone should ask any prospective regulatory technology provider.
Alex Viall is the Chief Strategy Officer at Global Relay.
Today’s guest discusses the policy and regulatory outlook for artificial intelligence in the US, UK and EU and outlines how policymakers, regulators and City bosses can best manage the risks arising from the financial industry’s increasing use of AI technology.
She details the policies that she would like politicians in the US and UK to prioritise ahead of elections in both jurisdictions.
She outlines how finance giants’ government affairs heads can best navigate these upcoming elections (and a potential return of President Trump).
And calls on politicians to avoid “political point scoring” in the run up to both votes.
Lisa Rabbe has spent more than three decades guiding some of the world’s largest financial institutions through regulatory and policy changes affecting their businesses. Her career includes stints as head of government affairs for Europe, Middle East and Africa at US giant Goldman Sachs and Chief Government and Public Affairs Officer at credit rating agency Moody’s.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Global Relay, a technology firm providing global financial services firms with the software to capture, store and monitor their employees’ communications.
Today’s guest outlines how financial services companies and their regulators are preparing for an expected clampdown on employees’ social media use. He outlines how an increasing regulatory focus on City workers’ behaviour in and out of the day job is changing their bosses approach to capturing and monitoring their communications. And he details how firms are using new technology to address compliance pain points when dealing with communications supervision.
Rob Mason is director of regulatory intelligence at Global Relay.
Today’s guest outlines how finance bosses can best support those running their risk, audit, and compliance functions to avoid serious disruptions in future.
He cautions that without such investment in their governance, regulatory and controls functions, financial institutions risk inducing regulatory fatigue and provoking “flight risk” amongst valued senior staff.
He also details how he believes senior risk, audit and compliance professionals should navigate today’s job market and changing work environment, and plenty more besides.
Alex Keetch is Managing Director at Halsey Keetch, an executive search firm that specialises in placing senior leaders onto financial services company boards and within their risk, compliance, financial crime, and internal audit departments.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Global Relay, a technology firm providing global financial services firms with the software to capture, store and monitor their employees’ communications.
Today’s guest highlights the surveillance blind spots that pose “massive” compliance risks to large sections of the financial services industry. She explains why an aggressive clampdown on bankers’ WhatsApp use, as seen in the US, is unlikely to be copied by UK watchdogs. And she details how a regulatory crackdown on City workers’ behaviour outside of the day job is influencing their bosses approach to capturing and monitoring their communications.
Jennie Clarke is head of content at Global Relay.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a global technology firm providing regulated organisations of all sizes with cloud-native digital communications capture, retention, and oversight solutions to help them identify regulatory and reputational risks within their communications data before those risks become fines or headlines.
Today’s guest details what he believes will be this year’s most pressing challenges for compliance professionals tasked with monitoring their employees’ communications.
As part of that, he offers guidance to compliance teams navigating the rapid proliferation of AI tools within the financial services sector, as well as to those responding to regulatory pressure to more closely track their employees’ use of encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram.
He also details how he expects communications surveillance compliance will develop in response to the challenges 2024 brings. And plenty more besides.
Shaun Hurst is Smarsh’s principal regulatory advisor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Today’s guest discusses UK regulators’ recent proposals to foster diversity and inclusion in the City, including the aspects of the measures she would like to see given more consideration and the role finance bosses must play to ensure the initiative’s success.
She details how AI tools are being used to adapt the role of the compliance officers she manages and the skillset she believes will be required for future compliance officers to succeed.
She also shares her insight on how best to navigate guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority.
And she should know. As Tracey McDermott spent 15 years at the City watchdog including 10 months as its acting CEO before joining global banking group Standard Chartered in 2017 as its group head of corporate, public and regulatory affairs. In 2018, she took on responsibility for the bank’s compliance function and since 2019 she has worked as Standard Chartered’s group head of conduct, financial crime and compliance. She also plays an influential role in several industry reform initiatives which she details in the upcoming episode.
Today’s guest outlines the three financial services reforms he expects the next government will prioritise. He details where he believes this government has gone wrong in its efforts to establish the UK as a thriving investment hub post-Brexit, and he explains what changes to the financial services sector he believes this government should avoid in order to keep the City as competitive as possible.
Jon McLeod has spent 26 years advising businesses and their bosses on political relations, corporate governance, and reputation management. His career includes stints as head of public affairs at lobbying group Brunswick and as chair of communications giant Weber Shandwick’s UK corporate, financial and public affairs practice, and of its Manchester office. Since 2021, he has worked as a partner at the communications consultancy DRD Partnership where he leads its competition and anti-trust practice.
Today’s episode is a little different to normal. It is a recording of a recent panel discussion from City & Financial Global’s ninth annual 'Culture and Conduct Forum for the Financial Services Industry'. I was invited to moderate a panel on moral capitalism and we discussed how financial services can best link their profits with their purpose, how the newest intake of graduates are influencing firms decisions as they define and promote their purpose internally and externally, the transition to net zero and plenty more in between. I hope you enjoy it.
Today’s guest outlines what UK lawmakers have missed in their efforts to address the fallout from the cost-of-living crisis. He details what policy changes the next government should prioritise to prevent long-term damage arising from the aftermath of the crisis. And he explains how the Financial Conduct Authority’s new consumer-focused rules should best be implemented to support financial services firms’ most vulnerable clients.
Peter Tutton has spent two decades advising on mortgage, credit and related consumer policy. Since 2012, he has lobbied for regulatory reforms to help consumers in financial difficulty as head of policy at StepChange Debt Charity.
Today’s guest outlines how the UK can best prepare for a move to a cashless society. He calls on lawmakers to do more to guide those uncomfortable with that move through the transition to a digital economy and explains why any such digital inclusion programme must start with a clampdown on the UK’s “big” digital fraud problem.
John Howells is a former banker and consultant who has run the UK’s cash machine network since taking over as chief executive of cash machine provider LINK in 2012. In 2022, he also took on the role of Commissioner for the UK’s Financial Inclusion Commission.
Today’s guest outlines why consumer advocacy should matter to those working in financial services and how those in the sector who agree can best get their voices heard.
He details what he would like to change about the UK markets watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority and UK regulation in general. And he discusses why he believes a “derisory” compensation package has been offered to investors who fell victim to the failed fund run by former star stockpicker Neil Woodford.
Mark Bishop is a consumer activist. Since 2020, he has been volunteering for the Transparency Task Force, a consumer advocacy body, on strategy, campaigning and public policy matters. Since 2020, he has also served on the Secretariat of the All Parliamentary Party Group on Personal Banking and Fairer Financial Services.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a US-headquartered technology firm providing global financial services companies with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
Today’s guest outlines how he expects the rise of artificial intelligence tools to change the way in which financial institutions’ run their compliance divisions and how compliance professionals, and the regulators they answer to, can best navigate the new world of AI. In particular, he explains compliance’s role as a critical enabling function for finance bosses looking to capitalise on the opportunities AI offers in a secure way.
Tom Padgett is the General Manager of Smarsh’s Enterprise business, which serves the needs of the world’s largest banks and financial services organisations.
Today’s guest calls on City executives to play a more proactive role in guiding regulators and policymakers in their efforts to both future-proof and foster competition within the UK’s financial services sector.
She discusses how she believes the UK’s financial sector and its regulators can best navigate the vast programme of regulatory change derived from such efforts to bolster the City post-Brexit.
And she outlines the mindset shift required to establish yourself as a go-to adviser to governments and lawmakers.
And she should know, because Rachel Kent is a senior financial services lawyer who became one of the City’s most called-upon authorities on financial services reform in the wake of Brexit. She has since been invited to advise on or lead several of the government’s post-Brexit reviews of rules governing the UK financial services sector. She now acts as lead adviser to the government’s Treasury department on financial services matters.
As a senior partner in the global financial institutions group at law firm Hogan Lovells, she advises the largest banks, asset managers, insurers, and financial market infrastructure firms on financial regulation.
Today’s guest discusses why he believes London has lagged other financial centres in recent years. He outlines the issues within UK financial services he believes City watchdogs should prioritise to strengthen London as a financial centre and as a listing exchange amid what he sees as a post-Brexit crisis of confidence.
He also details what measures policymakers can take to boost London’s appeal and competitiveness in the lead-up to the upcoming general election.
Craig Coben is a former investment banker with more than 25 years of financial industry experience. He began his banking career at Deutsche Bank in 1997, before moving to Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America) in 2005 where he most recently served as the US bank’s vice-chairman of global capital markets in London and its co-head of global capital markets for its Asia-Pacific region based in Hong Kong. He retired from investment banking in 2022.
Today’s guest outlines the changes he believes are necessary to future-proof both the UK’s finance regulator the Financial Conduct Authority and the country’s top prosecution agency the Serious Fraud Office. And explains why it’s vital for the two organisations to begin working together more effectively.
He also discusses how the UK’s accountability regime for senior City staff could be improved, where the City needs clarity from the government as to its Brexit plans and plenty more in between.
Matthew Nunan spent six years as a case controller at the SFO, and seven years at the FCA, where he was latterly ran the regulator’s wholesale enforcement department, before moving to US bank Morgan Stanley as head of conduct risk for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2014. Since 2020, he has worked a partner in the dispute resolution practice at law firm Gibson Dunn.
Today’s guest discusses his tenure as chair of the UK finance regulator the Financial Conduct Authority including his highs and lows in the role, and his advice for those now running the watchdog. He also outlines what unfinished business he had on leaving the FCA, and in doing so explains why “the time is now” for UK policymakers to do more to stamp out financial exclusion in the country.
Charles Randell spent 24 years as partner in the corporate finance practice at law firm Slaughter and May and was the lead external lawyer for the government during the global financial crisis before joining the Bank of England in 2013 as a member of the Prudential Regulation Committee and then becoming chair of the FCA in 2018. He left his post in 2022 and has since worked as a Visiting Fellow in financial services regulation at Queen Mary University of London.
As UK watchdogs continue their drive to stamp out aspects of poor culture within the financial services sector, those tasked with responding to the many ongoing and upcoming regulatory requirements can easily feel overwhelmed.
Today’s guests outline what financial services bosses and board should do to cut through the regulatory noise while still building ethical organisations, as well as the common mistakes they should avoid.
They also detail the regulatory changes they would like to see emerge from the government’s latest package of proposed Brexit reforms and they discuss the questions they would like to see UK lawmakers answer as they seek to map out the City’s future outside of the EU.
Jan Putnis is a partner at law firm Slaughter and May, where he oversees its Financial Regulation Group and co-Heads its Financial Institutions Group.
Roger Miles is a behavioural risk expert with a PhD in the psychology of regulatory design. Since 2016, he has led lobby group UK Finance’s Conduct and Culture Academy as it’s co-founder and faculty leader.
Today’s episode is a deep dive into the culture of the UK’s top financial watchdogs: the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. In it, I reveal that the FCA received 38 allegations of bullying, harassment racism and discrimination taking place within its ranks in 2020, 2021 and 2022, while the PRA received three such reports from amongst its workforce over the same time period.
Together with today’s guests, we discuss the action the FCA and PRA should take as a result of these allegations, how news of these claims could affect regulators’ efforts to police similar misbehaviour amongst finance workers and plenty more in between.
Penny Miller is a partner at law firm Simmons & Simmons, and heads their global financial services regulatory practice.
Christian Hunt’s career includes stints as chief operating officer at the PRA and global head of compliance and operational risk at UBS Asset Management. Since 2019, he has run Human Risk, a consultancy and training firm specialising in advising company bosses on behavioural science, ethics and compliance, and a top-rated podcast of the same name.
In response to the topics covered in this podcast, a spokesperson for the FCA said its staff were passionate about *its work and making the FCA the best organisation it can be. "We have a culture where people feel they are able to speak up and raise issues if they feel they haven't been treated correctly," the spokesperson said. "As the stats show, where concerns are raised we investigate them thoroughly and fairly."
The spokesperson added: "Non-financial misconduct is unacceptable and we will continue to raise it as an issue with firms."
A spokesperson for the PRA declined to comment.
Today’s guest outlines how she expects financial services bosses and the policymakers setting their rules will adapt to a “paradigm shift” in global geopolitics that will see China get increasingly assertive, US more protectionist and Russia more aggressive. She details the investment opportunities that she believes will arise from these changes to geopolitical dynamics and the likely regulatory reaction to that. And she explains how finance companies can prepare now for a “mega” 2024 in which the UK will likely see a change in government, the US could be navigating a return of President Trump and Mexico, India, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine and the European Parliament will also be holding elections.
Tina Fordham is a geopolitical strategist who has spent two decades advising prime ministers and bosses at some of the world’s largest financial institutions, as well as institutional investors and the United Nations about the implications of global political, security and socio-economic developments. Her career includes stints at US banking giant Citigroup and political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. In 2022, she founded Fordham Global Foresight, an independent consulting firm, where she advises UK and European boards and bosses on macro geopolitical changes affecting their businesses.
Today’s guests detail the opportunities they believe that lawmakers missed when drafting their plans to regulate crypto-assets in the UK. They explain how financial services regulation could be improved if the industry’s watchdogs did more to integrate technology underpinning crypto-assets into their operations. And they offer advice to compliance and regulatory execs looking to make the jump from working in traditional finance to roles within crypto.
Andrew Henderson has spent two decades in financial services law. Since 2022 he has worked as a partner in law firm Goodwin Procter’s private investment funds and financial industry practice, where he advises companies on financial services regulation and risk management as well as on fintech and cryptoassets.
Alex Royle is a former trader who spent five years working for UK and EU regulators before moving into crypto. Since 2022, he has worked as head of compliance and regulatory affairs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the crypto-focused investment bank Galaxy Digital.
Today’s guest outlines what City bosses are getting wrong in their efforts to improve the culture of the organisations under their management. He explains the anthropological tools that financial institutions’ boards and leaders could use to both better understand the causes of - and prevent - bad behaviour amongst their employees. And he outlines how he believes both UK regulators and UK regulation needs to change in order to improve conduct within the financial services sector.
Roger Steare is known professionally as the Corporate Philosopher. He has spent two decades advising the bosses and boards of some of the UK’s largest financial services companies and financial regulators on how to build ethical organisations.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Clausematch, a regulatory technology company providing financial services companies in the UK, US and Asia with solutions to address challenges within policy management and regulatory change.
Today’s guests call on financial services regulators globally and the companies they supervise to work together now to automate the processes around changing and implementing rules.
They also explain how a first-of-its-kind project that they’ve been working on could not only help to kick start an industry drive to digitalise regulatory change, but also fundamentally reshape compliance processes and resourcing at financial services companies at a time when regulatory change programmes are is only getting more complex time.
Evgeny Likhoded is CEO and founder of Clausematch. Aleksandra Wawrzyszczuk is head of LawTechUK, a government-funded programme driving innovation in the UK’s legal sector.
Today’s guest outlines how the UK’s markets watchdog is adapting the way it works and resources its teams to ensure it is fit to meet its ever-expanding remit.
She calls on City workers to be “a bit more understanding” about the Financial Conduct Authority’s limits as it navigates this growing to-do list, to speak out if the regulator is “getting something very, very wrong” and for finance bosses to speak up if they want to find a way for their employees to help the FCA with its workload.
She also discusses what changes the FCA wants to see amongst the financial services companies and individuals it supervises and the cultural red flags that the watchdog is “most sensitive to”.
Emily Sheppard worked as director of customer services and change at pensions group Aegon UK, and as chief operating officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Bank of New York Mellon before joining the FCA in early 2021. Since then, she has led the FCA’s authorisations division, which the regulator describes as “the gateway” for firms and individuals aiming to work in finance. In 2022, she added the role of FCA COO to her remit and took on responsibility for future-proofing the regulator via its transformation agenda.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a US-headquartered technology firm providing global financial services companies with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
Today’s guest outlines why it’s imperative that regulators and the financial services firms they supervise work together now to determine industry best practice for modernising compliance. He also explains how it’s possible for City firms to continue to prioritise innovation in their back office in today’s tough economic environment. And he details the common mistakes finance bosses must avoid when seeking to more closely track their employees’ mobile communications amidst a widespread regulatory clamp down on firms’ use of monitoring encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp.
Goutam Nadella oversees technological innovation and commercial strategy as Chief Product Officer at Smarsh.
Today’s guest was the first person in the world to be jailed for rigging the London interbank offered rate a benchmark that helped to determine interest rates or mortgages in sizeable corporate loans.
He is also one of the only bankers to be sent to prison after the financial crisis.
Tom Hayes is a former UBS and Citigroup trader who spent half of his 11-year sentence in prison. His release in early 2021 came after the four other former traders convicted in the Libor manipulation scandal had completed their prison terms. Eight others embroiled in the scandal were acquitted without charge.
He had unwittingly made it easy for prosecutors to earmark him for harsher treatment by first cooperating with the UK's serious fraud office, providing them with hours of incriminating interviews before switching tack and deciding to fight his case. The UK's criminal courts did not look kindly upon that move.
In 2017, lawyers for Hayes submitted this case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which is an independent body responsible for investigating suspected miscarriages of justice in a bid to have his conviction quashed. His legal team have long claimed that his autism diagnosis ahead of his 2015 trial was not given due consideration in court and has argued that the prosecution used witnesses who were not experts and held back important items of evidence from the defense.
The CCRC has had the option to refer Tom's your case to the court of Appeal if it decides there's a real possibility that his original conviction could be quashed by the court. In late 2021, it decided to provisionally reject his efforts to appeal his case.
Hayes and his legal team have since had the opportunity to push back on that decision and that pushback has become more pronounced last year when a US Court dismissed its criminal indictment against Tom.
In November, the CCRC took the unusual step of inviting Hayes’ legal team to give their views on whether the US Court decision should prompt his conviction to be overturned, which suggests it is reconsidering its earlier position and that Hayes’ six year long fight to clear his name now looks set to be nearing an end.
We discuss his ongoing efforts to clear his names, how he is moving on both personally and professionally from a lost decade, and what today’s finance execs can learn from his story.
In response to Hayes' comments in this episode, a CCRC spokesperson said: "This is a large, complex case and no final decision has yet been made by the CCRC on whether to refer it to the Court of Appeal. However, a CCRC committee is scheduled to meet on 13 March 2023, to discuss and assess the case further.”
A spokesperson for the SFO said that the prosecution agency's investigations into interest rate rigging had "followed the criminal justice process in England and Wales". "As a result of the investigations, nine individuals either pleaded guilty or were found guilty by a jury,” the spokesperson said. "A number of those convictions have been reviewed by the Court of Appeal and none of them have been overturned."
Today’s guest outlines where in the financial services sector compliance professionals will be able to find new jobs and salary increases in the coming months, and where we can expect a slowdown in recruitment. He details the common mistake finance bosses make when hiring and promoting back-office expertise and how to avoid them. And he explains why – and how – financial services execs must act now to help close the gender pay gap in compliance.
Jonathan Skerrett is the founder and director at Rutherford, a recruitment firm that specialises in placing compliance officers in roles within the financial services sector.
Today’s guests set out how financial services firms should best respond to the now myriad and rapidly-changing environmental, social and governance requirements in existence worldwide and the steps they should take now to prepare for formal or informal challenges to their ESG credentials. They outline the role of legal and compliance staff as well as front office executives in such responses and the common mistakes such individuals should avoid. They also discuss the ESG-related challenges that they believe not enough people are paying attention to.
Nicola Higgs advises banks, fund managers and insurers on UK and European financial services regulatory matters as a partner in law firm Latham & Watkins’ London office and global co-chair of the firm's financial institutions industry group.
Simon Welch oversees banking group Credit Suisse’s legal response to sustainability-related matters as its head of legal for sustainability.
EPISODE NOTES
During the episode, we discuss five ESG-related questions that boards governing financial institutions should ask themselves. These are listed below.
- Which aspects of the sustainable finance agenda are relevant to your firm and how do you track, monitor and adapt your corporate strategy in response to this?
- Do you have the right collective expertise within your executive team to understand the risks and opportunities the ESG transition poses for the business?
- Who are the key stakeholders involved in the delivery of the ESG transition strategy? Is there a clear understanding as to where responsibility sits within the 3 lines of defence? What are the necessary information flows between these stakeholders?
- What steps have you taken to ensure that your clients and external stakeholders have a clear understanding of your ESG strategy?
- What action have you taken to ensure that staff have a consistent understanding of your ESG strategy in the context of your wider corporate purpose?
Today’s guest explains what he believes the right regulatory response to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX would be. He details the policies UK lawmakers and regulators should consider as they seek to more closely police all things crypto while also establishing the City’s as a competitive finance hub post-Brexit. And he outlines what EU policymakers got right and where he believes they went wrong in their regulation of the sector.
Tom Duff Gordon’s 20-year career includes 5.5 years overseeing banking group Credit Suisse’s government relations and regulatory policy in the EU and UK. Since June, he has led crypto exchange Coinbase’s approach to regulatory change outside of the US as its vice president for international policy.
Today’s guest urges UK lawmakers to create a replacement body to the audit, actuarial and accounting watchdog the Financial Reporting Council “as fast as possible”, almost four years after such a move was first recommended.
She lays out the case for the UK government to prioritise better, simpler rule-making over more regulation when looking to reform the UK’s financial services rulebook post-Brexit.
She outlines how boards and investors should best approach increasingly-complicated environmental, social and governance regulation, and offers tips on how to avoid common mistakes when addressing ESG reporting requirements.
Kate O’Neill is a former lawyer whose 30-year career includes stints as director of European funds and hedge funds at asset manager Janus Henderson Investors and managing director for investor relations at Lloyds Banking Group. Since 2020, she has overseen the creation of the FRC’s Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs function.
Today’s guest outlines how she believes UK lawmakers and regulators can best retain and grow a competitive fintech hub both in a tough economic period and the City’s new post-Brexit era. She details the achievements of the UK’s approach to open banking, and offers advice on how to move this initiative forward.
These are ideas we should see feed through into action because Charlotte Crosswell is not only completing her mandate as chair and trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity, but has recently been appointed as the chair of the Government's new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology. Her 26-year career also includes roles as CEO of lobby group Innovate Finance, and president of exchange Nasdaq.
Today’s guest calls out UK finance regulators for their vocal opposition to proposed new government powers that would see lawmakers able to call watchdogs in to explain aspects of their approach to policing the City, arguing that such a stance is both “self delusion” and “constitutionally wrong”.
He calls on the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to stop seeing City executives as “a bunch of criminals” and do more to engage with financial services professionals. He explains why he believes that reinstating City intelligence gatherers known as ‘grey panthers’ and establishing a proper secondment process at the FCA would ultimately help the watchdog better understand and police the sector.
He also outlines how parliament should best analyse the impact of changes to UK rules post-Brexit, and plenty more in between.
Philip Warland’s views have been crystallised over a 50-year career in financial services, which includes stints at the UK central bank the Bank of England, and banking group Standard Chartered. His last full-time role was at fund manager Fidelity International where he spent seven years leading its government affairs division as its head of public policy until 2017. He now advises several companies on regulatory matters but is speaking to Following the Rules in a personal capacity.
Today’s guest outlines the steps UK institutions, and their regulators could take now to prevent London from losing its status as a global clearing hub. He details the regulatory changes to equity markets and pension fund rules that UK lawmakers should consider to ensure the City retains its global leadership in financial services post-Brexit. And he explains how a proposed 2017 merger between the London Stock Exchange Group and its German rival Deutsche Börse could have helped London better navigate some of its most complex Brexit issues.
These are all subjects he is considerably well-versed in because Xavier Rolet ran the London Stock Exchange Group as its CEO for nine years until November 2018. Since then, he has held a number of CEO and chairmanship positions across major global financial institutions including the hedge funds CQS and Shore Capital.
Today’s guest outlines why, in a time of significant cuts to public services, the UK government should consider increasing funding for the Serious Fraud Office, the UK’s top prosecution agency for white collar crime. He also lays out the case for significantly simplifying the workload of the UK markets watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority and offers tips for those looking to pursue a career at the regulator.
Sasi-Kanth Mallela is a former regulator and criminal prosecutor. His 22 year career includes stints as a case controller at the SFO and as a technical specialist in the enforcement division of the FCA. He left the FCA in June to join consulting firm Ankura, where his work includes advising financial services firms on their risk and compliance obligations.
PODCAST NOTES
This podcast was recorded before Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister.
Today’s guest explains how he would like to see the UK parliament’s influential Treasury Select Committee change to best regulate new asset classes like crypto. He details the regulatory priorities he believes the next UK government should have to future-proof the UK financial services sector. He also outlines his concerns around the UK markets watchdog’s ability to cope with its ever-expanding to-do list, and outlines how parliamentarians can best address the issue now to help the City remain competitive post-Brexit.
Lord Chris Holmes is an award-winning Paralympian, who has been a Conservative peer in the House of Lords since 2013.
Today’s guest explains why the UK’s financial sector could be heading towards another major financial scandal and what City regulators and firms under their remit can do now to prevent such an event from coming to fruition. He outlines how he believes the UK markets’ watchdog’s approach to policing City behaviour must change to better enable finance firms to adhere to their expectations. He also details the compliance challenges that he sees arising from the current cost-of-living crisis and explains how compliance teams should best respond.
Antony Whitehouse is a former regulator at the Financial Conduct Authority’s predecessors and who has also held several senior roles in compliance at some of Europe’s largest banks. A former UK Head of Compliance and Global Head of Fixed Income Compliance at BNP Paribas and UK head of compliance at Natixis, Whitehouse has also spent three years running the influential compliance committee at trade body the Association for Financial Markets in Europe. Since July, Antony has been advising on compliance issues as a consultant at Whitehouse Compliance Advisory.
Today’s guest discusses what regulators and lawmakers should consider in their efforts to rethink regulation for UK insurers post-Brexit. She explains what UK watchdogs should be doing now to foster innovation within the insurance sector, and how regulators themselves could innovate to improve rule-making for financial services firms generally. She also challenges City bosses in their approach to gender diversity within the financial services sector, and outlines how she plans to grow her new business to best reflect the lessons she has learned with regards to fostering diversity of talent.
These are all subjects close to her heart. Because Mary O’Connor is not only a former regulator whose 30-year career includes senior positions in the insurance sector. She also became the first women to head up a professional services firm in the UK when she became acting CEO of KPMG in 2021. In 2022, she joined Howden Broking as CEO of its new business Howden CAP (Capital, Advisory and Placement).
Today’s guest details how European regulators are changing their approach to regulating Europe’s markets and what that means for the financial services firms under their supervision. He outlines the tools Europe’s top finance watchdogs are missing in their efforts to better police European markets, and how he believes national European regulators need to fill the gaps in regulatory expertise created as a result. He also explains why finance bosses should be preparing now for an upcoming set of European accountability rules similar to the UK’s senior managers and certification regime and plenty more in between…
Dr Michael Huertas is Frankfurt-based lawyer whose 14 year career has included stints the European Central Bank and Lloyds Banking Group. Since 2021, he has been advising some og the world’s largest financial services firms as a partner and head of the European financial institutions regulatory group at PwC Legal.
Today’s guest explains why he was reluctant to pursue an aspect of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s proposed financial services reforms while in office. He calls on UK regulators to rethink the way they interact with the financial services industry and lays out the case for a fundamental review of the fees the UK markets’ watchdog charges the financial services firms it polices. He also opens up on his frustrations while spearheading the UK’s post-Brexit financial services reforms through parliament and discusses his plans for the future.
John Glen has been a member of parliament for Salisbury since 2010 and became the longest-serving City minister ever when in the post from 2018 to 2022. This is his first interview about his time in office since he resigned from his ministerial role in July citing a “complete lack of confidence” in Boris Johnson’s premiership. The interview was conducted in his Westminster office.
Today’s guest outlines what she believes a UK government under prime minister Liz Truss will really mean for the country’s financial services sector. She explains why it’s time for the UK’s markets' watchdog to take a regulatory pause, and why a rethink of the FCA’s industry levy is needed. She also details what UK lawmakers missed in relation to post-Brexit reform of finance and what City execs can do now to shape the reform agenda.
Becca Park is a former lawyer who was previously director of corporate affairs for the trade body UK Finance, and a member of the Executive Committee for the European Banking Federation. In 2021, she joined consulting group Global Counsel where she has been advising financial services firms on policy and regulation as its senior director for the financial services practice since 2022.
Today’s guest details the EU and UK regulatory concerns that he believes should be keeping the world’s largest hedge funds up at night. He calls on UK lawmakers to do more to address what he sees as an urgent need for a UK fund vehicle to help the country’s asset management sector better compete with its rival European hubs. And he warns of the unfortunate regulatory repercussions arising from politicisation of the European rulemaking process.
Leonard Ng is a member of the executive committee and co-head of the UK and EU financial services regulation group at US law firm Sidley Austin.
Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with ComplyAdvantage, a UK-headquartered technology firm providing global financial services companies with the tools to counteract financial crime.
Today’s guest explains how companies can best use their sanctions compliance processes to gain a competitive advantage and he details what could be done to prevent cryptocurrencies from being used as a sanctions evasion tool. He also outlines how lawmakers and regulators risk alienating new businesses from coming to the UK and the actions they could take to ensure the country’s financial services sector remains globally relevant.
Charlie Delingpole is a former JP Morgan banker turned technology entrepreneur. In 2010, he set up MarketFinance, a corporate financial solutions company which raised $59M in funding before Delingpole’s departure in 2014 to become founder and CEO at ComplyAdvantage.
Today’s guest details the problems he sees arising from the City reforms proposed by the candidates vying to become the UK’s new prime minister. He outlines his plans to address the issues he sees at the UK markets watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority. And he explains why he fears that the current drive to innovate compliance could ultimately do more to weaken the function than improve it.
Peter Haines has spent 40 years working for regulators including the FCA’s predecessors and in senior compliance roles at large banks including Bank of America. Since 2017, he has led training in Governance, Risk and Compliance at training provider CCL Academy.
Today’s guest outlines how he believes UK markets watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority is falling short in its efforts to clamp down on poor behaviour amongst City bosses. He details what regulators are doing now to more closely track the culture of financial institutions under their watch, and what the firms in question are getting wrong in their response. And he explains how behavioural science could be applied to the UK regulatory framework to better facilitate compliance with the rules.
These are all subjects close to his heart. Because Roger Miles is a behavioural risk expert with a PhD in the psychology of regulatory design. Since 2016, he has led lobby group UK Finance’s Conduct and Culture Academy as it’s co-founder and faculty leader.
Today’s guest reveals how one of the world’s largest banks navigates regulatory change. He outlines what his bosses want to know when the UK appoints a new Prime Minister, and he details what he believes needs to happen to ensure the UK financial markets remain competitive post-Brexit.
Richard Kaye has spent the past seven of his 26 year career at banking giant JP Morgan guiding the bank’s approach to regulatory change outside of the US, as its head of international public affairs
Today’s episode is a deep dive into the Financial Conduct Authority’s efforts to tackle finance workers’ misbehaviour outside of the day job. In it, I reveal that the FCA received 746 notifications of such misconduct amongst senior City staff in 2020 and 2021. Of those, 646 related to breaches of Covid restrictions.
Together with today’s guests, we discuss the action the FCA is likely to take as a result of such behaviour, what finance firms should be doing now to better track and ultimately stamp out non-financial misconduct and plenty more in between.
Penny Miller is a partner and Head of the Financial Services Regulatory practice at law firm Simmons & Simmons.
Mark Turner is a managing director in the Financial Services Compliance and Regulation practice at risk consultancy Kroll.
In response to the topics covered in this podcast, a spokesperson for the FCA said:
“We expect high standards of character and probity from those who work in the financial services industry. And we have shown our willingness to ban those who fall short, for example those guilty of serious sexual offences"
“It is important to be clear about how our remit operates here," the spokesperson continued. "We take action where established non-financial misconduct reveals a person lacks fitness and properness to carry out a regulated function. The real measure of success is not just ensuring enforcement action is taken in appropriate cases but that firms themselves have raised the conduct bar to ensure high standards of fitness and properness exist among staff.”
Today’s guest details what finance bosses should be doing now to better manage future compliance crises. He reveals what he really wants from his senior compliance executives and the common mistakes those in that role make when interacting with top bosses at any business. He details what UK lawmakers missed when it came to post-Brexit reform of the City and why there’s nothing to be gained from paying too much attention to political turmoil.
Martin Gilbert is a City veteran with a long history in asset and wealth management. He co-founded Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983 and was its chief executive officer from 1991 to 2017 when the firm combined with a rival to form Standard Aberdeen, now abrdn. Among other directorships, he has chaired challenger bank Revolut since 2020 and asset management business AssetCo since 2021.
Today’s guest warns that the compliance sector risks a major skills shortage in its junior ranks. He reveals why the majority of regulatory technology solutions can not live up to their promise. He unpicks the compliance challenge created by the increasing regulatory focus on environmental, social and governance matters and he outlines the skills he looks for when hiring compliance professionals in a rapidly-changing sector.
Richard Brearley has spent almost 30 years helping to shape or navigate financial regulation. His career includes four years as a regulator in the markets division of the Financial Conduct Authority’s predecessor the Financial Services Authority, and 16 years in senior compliance roles at large funds and banks. Since 2021, he has led the compliance division at global investment manager Ninety One.
Today’s guest outlines the vast compliance challenges that financial services companies with a European presence must tackle to ready themselves for the world’s first far-reaching set of rules specifically targeting the development and use of artificial intelligence. She warns that more than 80% of finance firms polled are currently ill-equipped to meet a number of the key requirements of the impending European rules. She explains why EU regulators will come down hard on those who are caught out when the rules come into effect and why – and when - the UK could seek to follow the European approach.
Charlotte Walker-Osborn has spent 24 years advising both suppliers and customers, including a number of banks and insurance firms, on their development, procurement, deployment and use of technology and for the past 5 or so years AI. Since 2017, she has led the artificial intelligence and technology sector at law-firm Eversheds Sutherland as its international head.
Today’s guest outlines how he believes the Financial Conduct Authority’s ever-expanding remit could impact its drive to become a data-led regulator. He reveals some common mistakes financial services firms make when interacting with the watchdog. He explains why he thinks the UK's asset management regulatory framework could benefit from a fundamental rethink as lawmakers reshape the UK’s rulebook post-Brexit and he warns City bosses they risk serious fall-out if they do not act now to adequately manage their operational risk.
These are subjects close to his heart because Nick Miller was the FCA’s head of asset management supervision for five years until early 2022. Since then, he has led Moody’s global regulatory affairs team as its managing director.
Today’s guests lays out the case for an ambitious clampdown on economic crime and the way it is currently policed in the UK. He calls out UK regulators for their lack of proactiveness in addressing the issue and calls on financial services execs to help him shape the best possible path forward to rid London of its dirty money problem.
Kevin Hollinrake is a member of the British parliament for the ruling Conservative party and the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking.
Smarsh is a US-headquartered technology firm providing global financial services companies with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their digital communications for compliance purposes and to glean useful insights.
Today’s guests explain why regulators are right to be concerned about finance execs use of encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and WeChat. They discuss what communications behaviour they think the world’s finance watchdogs should be looking to next and they outline how the world’s largest companies are navigating the challenges of monitoring employees’ mobile conversations.
Blane Warrene is vice president of product management at Smarsh, and Guy Levit is CEO of TeleMessage, a technology firm that Smarsh recently entered into an agreement to acquire, which captures mobile messaging data.
Today’s guests details how the ongoing war in Ukraine could fundamentally change the established business models and regulatory policy-making in Western financial markets, lays out the defence for central banks in their response to the inflationary scenarios that the outbreak of war has contributed to and sounds the alarm on the market risks that policymakers are forced to ignore whilst they are in crisis mode.
Andreas Dombret is the former vice-chairman of Bank of America’s Global Investment Banking unit in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More recently, he has been a member of the executive board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, with Banking Supervision, and Risk Control among his responsibilities. He has also been a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism of the European Central Bank and spent eight years on the board of Basel-based Bank for International Settlements.
Smarsh is a rapidly-growing technology firm providing financial services companies with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.
Today’s guests explain how the world’s largest companies are tracking staff behaviour and the alternative revenue-generating uses for the data collected as a result, outline the ethical guidelines they believe finance bosses should follow when monitoring employee communications, and detail finance firms’ efforts to monitor home-workers’ professional lives without encroaching too greatly into their personal space.
Brandon Carl leads the commercial strategy for large-scale corporates as executive vice president in product strategy at Smarsh. Shaun Hurst is Smarsh’s principal regulatory advisor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Today’s guests explains how financial services firms can best prepare now for the industry’s rapidly-changing compliance requirements, and outlines the skills compliance officers will need to remain relevant in the back office of the future.
Louise Rodger is the director in the compliance and policy division at trade body the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, or AFME, where she lobbies policymakers for the interests of compliance professionals at banks and brokers in UK and Europe
Today’s guest outlines why some of the largest financial services firms in London risk serious knowledge gaps in the 'engine rooms' of their compliance teams and reveals the skills most in demand as recruitment for compliance roles reaches record highs.
Tom Boulderstone manages the compliance & financial crime team at headhunter Barclay Simpson, where he specialises in placing compliance professionals within banks, asset managers, hedge funds and private equity firms.
Today’s guest lays out the case for more concrete rules around ESG investment, and for the UK government to deliver on the regulatory commitments it has made to bolster the UK market for fintechs.
Chris Woolard helped to shape the UK regulatory landscape as the former interim CEO of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority before moving to EY where he now advises financial services leaders, central banks and governments on financial regulation as a partner and chairman of EY’s Global Regulatory Network.
Lucy McNulty introduces a new podcast for those seeking insight into the rules shaping UK and EU financial services and the people responsible for understanding and implementing them.