Do not be caught off guard, risks come in all forms and shapes. Progressive market players are beginning to consider environmental risks in earnest. More needs to be done, though, to equip bank managers to effectively factor into their decision-making the interests of the world’s most critical, often endangered, natural capital, such as that of UNESCO World Heritage Sites—committing to do what they can to preserve living legacies for future generations.
Policies and procedures governing good conduct are a given in a financial institution, but unfortunately these are not always applied in practice. Surprisingly, while good conduct should start at the top, many firms have fallen short of this goal, with their senior managers and board members simply not following their own guidelines, negatively impacting the staff underneath them and their customers.
The digitalisation of the trade-finance industry is still very much a work in progress. The findings of the ICC Banking Commission’s latest Global Survey on Trade Finance, “Rethinking Trade and Finance”, shed light on the extent of the progression up until now and suggest what still needs to be done to accelerate the journey toward transformative innovation and its attendant benefits.
Like any divorce, Brexit is going to get complicated—even more so because of the variety of contradictory opinions about how it should be handled. There are four main scenarios, ranging from “smooth” and “transitional” to “cliff-edge” and “chaotic”. Prime Minister Theresa May is rooting for a “hard Brexit”, but many others are hoping for a much softer landing.
Islamic finance is gaining momentum, not only in Islamic countries but also in Western countries such as the UK—and not only among Muslims. Brexit is guaranteed to affect Islamic banking’s continuing development in the UK, but will the EU divorce be an advantage or disadvantage for the relatively nascent Sharia-compliant industry? Much will depend on how the negotiations play out.
You may have come across “RTS” – yet another acronym in the jargon-riddled PSD2 legislation. The European Commission has set out the legislative framework for new Directive and has tasked the European Banking Authority (EBA) to define the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) for the implementation for PSD2.
At the heart of good customer service is responding to customer demands, needs and behaviors—thus banks are finding themselves faced with the necessity of responding to the burgeoning popularity of mobile and peer-to-peer payments amongst especially their younger customers. Hoping it will all go away isn’t an option; so how can banks create their own fast and secure instant-payments systems?
On the worldwide web, the more players involved especially in a financial-payment transaction, the greater the risk that someone in the cyber circle will attempt to commit fraud. Europe’s new PSD2 promises to offer consumers many advantages, including greater choice in payments providers, but banks must simultaneously install advanced fraud-detection platforms that correspond in intensity with increased customer-centric flexibility and value.
2017 has been a good year for US stock-market indices, in large measure due to the staggering performances of the Big Five of the technology sector, which are hitting levels not seen since the dotcom boom 20 years ago. Characterized by unmatched success in such areas as platform strength, innovation reinvestment, acquisitions and talent attraction, these technology giants seem guaranteed to keep on winning.
The US dollar is the world’s reserve currency, the representation of US economic might on the global stage and the de facto currency unit for the overwhelming majority of financial assets.
