Steven PAUL, CDir FIoD

Many new and small banks in the UK struggle with variety of issues ranging from culture & governance to capital & business models - many of them eventually fail. While some failure of firms in a competitive economy is healthy, there is disproportionate loss of economic value in the process. Lok in this article for LinkedIn explores the issues involved and mitigants thereof. Happy to hear what you think of issues articulated here. Association of Foreign Banks (AFB) UK Finance

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There’s a sense of real optimism amongst our global banks clients, which is reflected in the results from this year’s FI Sentiment Survey.   2 in 3 are optimistic about the long-term outlook for the financial services sector, as well as the UK economy. More than 4 in 5 respondents at global banks say they view AI as an opportunity – with many already seeing the benefits in terms of productivity and efficiency.   Read the report below to get the full picture. #LloydsBankInstitutionalCoverage

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£150 million from the British Business Bank for #CDFIs and £4 million from JPMorganChase for capacity building! Congratulations to the #CDFI sector and Responsible Finance for working endlessly to make this happen! This will be game changing for #CDFI’s and #underestimated SMEs - two of the core markets we focus on @ Lendoe and have focused on from our inception! I look forward to what’s to come!!! Let’s go 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 #funding #underestimated #growth #responsiblefinance

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The FCA has set out a package of measures designed to help strengthen the UK’s capital markets and position as a global and vibrant financial centre. https://lnkd.in/engGyt-u #capitalmarkets #assetmanagement #fintech

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Enabling the Future of Wealth Management in India: Perspectives from Investors Trust Philip Story, Senior Executive Officer and Head of Distribution for EMEA at Investors Trust, gave a presentation at the Hubbis India Wealth Management Forum in late August, highlighting the firm’s capabilities and missions. These insights are particularly relevant in the context of their plans to soon open an office in GIFT City in India. Below is a summary of his key observations. Read on here: https://lnkd.in/ghTYezgG #WealthManagement #WealthSolutions #WealthPlanning #Innovation #India #ThrowbackThursday

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Capco’s Charit Arora had the pleasure of participating as a panellist at NICE Actimize’s annual ENGAGE financial crime conference in London, summing up the experience in our latest blog 👉 https://okt.to/ZA3Yaz With over 400 attendees from top banks, financial institutions, regulators, consultancies, and public sector bodies, this event was a hub of insightful discussions and groundbreaking #AI demonstrations. The theme, ‘AI in Action’, highlighted AI's accelerating impact on the financial services industry and the need to embrace AI as a powerful tool alongside human expertise to enhance financial crime detection. 🔑 Key points included: ◼️ Innovative AI use cases in alert management, voice call/email summaries, and #data cleansing. ◼️ The importance of balancing effectiveness vs. efficiency in surveillance efforts. ◼️ Emphasis on data completeness and the implications of #regulatory fines for surveillance failures. If you're keen to discuss how Capco can support your surveillance needs, from system implementation to risk assessments, connect with our Surveillance team! #cybersecurity

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Kroll's Matthew Wright and Kiran Aulakh will be speaking during a webinar on 20th November 2024 from 13:00 – 14:00 GMT. This session will provide insight and clarity into the methodologies and calculations used in insurance valuations. What works best for you depends on the nature and type of business you operate, starting with the basics of the methodologies available, we will also look at the standards that are applied. By the end of the session, you will be able to: - Define the methodologies used for valuations - Understand how to approach valuations dependent upon asset or property type - Plan a valuation program – what is best practice - Demonstrate the positive impact of having a valuation program Link below to register!

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I look forward to moderating and speaking at this interesting session on PMS tomorrow. Circle Wealth Advisors Private Limited Mukul Agarwal

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For the marketing leading platform to address these critical requirements come talk to Fusion Risk Management. Operational Resilience is what we do. It’s all we do. #fusionrm. #opres

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Here is our Innovate Finance afternoon update for FinTech on the election and new government. We reveal the new cohort of MPs who have worked in and around FinTech - for the first time in Parliament we have a FinTech gang! Plus news on ministerial appointments, what's coming up in the government's first 100 days, and our own plans for #FinTech discussions with the new Government and Parliament. A huge thanks to our brilliant team here at Innovate Finance and especially Megan Jenkins, Christopher Foo, Joe P B, Jago Corry, Paul Worthington and Roberto Napolitano, MBA who have all been working on our election analysis since the crack of dawn (and in some cases before dawn) today. #GE2024 #GeneralElection #NewGovernment

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Working with colleagues at PA Consulting to help clients cut through complexity and do better, I was interested in this FT article - https://lnkd.in/eV4Q-xei. Digging into the content of the report mentioned, I saw the authors talk about how "we're accepting mediocrity, treating customer service like it doesn't matter". It does - I 100% agree that it "damages productivity and depresses our mood". I love that our clients are asking us to help them do better, as they look outward and build the ambition and muscle to improve how they operate, and that our people practically and thoughtfully help them. It's effort well spent, with real commercial and societal reward. #operationalexcellence #dobetter #financialservices #customersupport Craig Oliver, Rodrigo Burgos, Caroline Wayman, Donald Cameron, Simon Foot, Mario Cugini, Jason Whyte, Susanne Gildberg, Stefan Knapp, Chris Spedding

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❗British Financial Services Consulting Faces Challenges in 2024 Despite Global Recovery While global consulting for Financial Services is expected to rebound in 2024, the UK’s market looks set to struggle, with forecasts predicting a contraction of 2%. According to a new report by Source Global Research, global Financial Services consulting will grow by 5%, surpassing $80bn for the first time, driven by demand for operations, cybersecurity, and strategy services. However, the UK faces hurdles, particularly in the Private Equity space, where consulting is expected to decline by 4%, in stark contrast to the US, which is projected to grow by 8% - recent conversations have supported this, as there is a consistent prediction that there will be a large surge of activity for 2025 with the large US PE Houses. The report highlights lingering economic concerns and tighter budgets, making it a tough year ahead for UK consulting. Despite this, opportunities remain in global markets, particularly in sectors like cybersecurity and strategy, which are expected to see strong growth into 2025. #Consulting #FinancialServices #UKConsulting #GlobalMarkets #PrivateEquity #Cybersecurity #Strategy #SourceGlobalResearch

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Our latest TPM Peer Roundtable last week was a great success. Attended by over 90 senior TPM leaders from 60+ financial institutions, the focus was on the industry collaboration work completed by Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Deutsche Bank and HSBC. This group presented the aligned materiality criteria that will be implemented across our organisations. It is a big step forward to agreeing consistent TPM standards. Many thanks to the cross-bank working group who invested their time and input to make this happen: Jane Cox, Steve Jack, Pete Stubbs, Joe Canzano, Josef Crawford, Louise Waite, Helen Truesdale and Vicky Goldsmith 26 financial institution attendees have requested the materials, with a view to looking at how this could be applied within their organisation. Looking forward, a few of the roundtable members are now discussing the next alignment topic for TPM - which is likely to be in Cyber/Info Sec. Events are being planned for the rest of the year, both online and in-person. The roundtable population has doubled in the last six months alone. If you are a financial institution and keen to join this and play an active role with collaborating on top TPM issues, then do message me directly. It is not open to suppliers, consultants or independent contractors.

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The operational resilience of Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) is crucial to UK financial stability. In her recent speech, Sasha Mills outlines key expectations for FMIs – ahead of the March 2025 deadline. The Bank expects FMIs to prioritise their efforts on scenario testing over the next year so that they can identify vulnerabilities sufficiently early to remediate them before March 2025, with appropriate funding and resources dedicated to address weaknesses found during testing. The speed at which vulnerabilities are remediated should reflect the potential impact to the financial sector that disruption, associated with that vulnerability, would cause. In the order of priorities, the Operational Resilience policy asks FMIs: 1) To identify which business services are important to financial stability (services which, if disrupted, could threaten financial stability). 2) To define what level of disruption those important business services could experience before risking financial stability – impact tolerance levels.   3) To demonstrate how they can meet those impact tolerances – that is to recover their services within tolerance – under a variety of extreme but plausible disruption scenarios. As we approach the March 2025 deadline, FMIs are expected to accelerate their efforts to ensure that they have calibrated their tolerance for negative impacts on their important business services, and mapped the key people, processes, technology, facilities, and information needed to deliver these services. FMIs should then be fully testing their ability to remain within impact tolerances for ‘extreme but plausible’ scenarios – ensuring that response plans and capabilities are robust, and where not, that strategic investment is being made. This is a key requirement. Whilst the March 2025 deadline represents a significant milestone, it is also not the end of the story and should not be seen as a ‘one off’ event – after the deadline, FMIs will need to continue to monitor and improve their operational resilience as risks and technologies evolve. In summary: 1.   First, FMIs are important to financial stability. 2.   Second, operational disruption will happen. 3.   Third, deep and collaborative thinking is required.   4.   Fourth, detail is important. 5.   Fifth, test the unlikely.  Jack Armstrong Dayna Bordin Mduduzi Mswabuki Abigail Viljoen Genevieve Marjoribanks Simon Spencer Richard Monks Kanika Seth Andrew Pilgrim Oliver Carew Mike Zehetmayr Andrew Lim Christopher Woolard CBE Mark Selvarajan Richards, CFA Matt Taylor Etienne Michelin Steve Holt

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Why Expert Guidance Matters in Trade Finance? In my experience, 7 out of 10 corporates (if not more) don’t have dedicated in-house teams and they often lack the depth and breadth of experience needed to navigate the complexities of Trade Finance and its operations. This is where SME (Subject Matter Experts) make a difference. With specialized knowledge and hands-on experience, they can help explain the nuances of various financing and risk-mitigating instruments and assist in robust risk management. Their bespoke solutions can optimize operations, and uncover opportunities that may go unnoticed internally. With so many recent frauds and scams in Commodity Finance, it is imperative for each stakeholder to exercise extreme caution and to not let their guards down. When it comes to Trade Finance, the stakes are too high to rely solely on in-house competency. Seeking expert advice is not just a smart move—it’s a critical one. #commodityfinance #commoditytradefinance #structuredtradefinance #riskmanagement

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Do not debtonate? Banks are the main targets here. But private lending, which has blossomed recently and is expected to account for around a third of the leveraged loan market, is also coming under fire. The next wave of refinancing and the potential resurgence of deal activity will mean even closer scrutiny? LPs' appetite for this asset class appears to remain positive 

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I was recently asked by Bobsguide to write a piece on the role Consumer Duty plays in building trust in embedded finance. At its core, the Duty is not a novel concept, but codifying this principle into enforceable regulatory standards raised expectations for all players in the ecosystem. As Consumer Duty sets new benchmarks, could it improve confidence in embedded finance and chart a path for further growth? One of the most promising aspects of Consumer Duty lies in achieving a truly collaborative process, laying the foundations for responsible innovation. Here is my take on the topic and the importance of playing fair to win over customers: https://lnkd.in/eeWXYRaW #ConsumerDuty #Embeddedfinance"

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