Finance

The concept of universal basic income has received support from many proponents over the years, who argue that it will pay for itself in the long run through a happy, stress-free and productive population able to achieve employment goals while liberated from the constant worries of meeting day-to-day-bills obligations. Trial runs have bolstered this argument, and support is growing—but UBI is a long way off from being unanimously accepted.

Artificial intelligence’s foothold in our personal lives is growing, but many of us draw the line at our personal finances and investments. That may soon change; the future of the financial-services industry seems intertwined with autonomous finance, which promises to free customers from the mundane tasks related to managing their financial affairs. The technology needed to automate financial management is in place, but will consumers hand over the reins?

The UK has long been regarded as one of the most regulated countries in the world when it comes to the financial services sector. Arguably much of this has been driven by membership of the EU, and the numerous money laundering directives we’ve adhered to over recent years. However, the UK will still be one of, if not the most strictly regulated countries even after Brexit – as the City of London needs to continue to be seen as beyond reproach as a financial institution.

In today’s investment environment, sustainability objectives are regarded as highly as other important goals. European Union regulators recently implemented the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, which seeks to ensure that financial firms are honest about how sustainable their products and services are. What are the key steps financial institutions should be taking to ensure that their disclosure reporting aligns with regulatory requirements while anticipating the new demands on their capital providers?

The COVID-19 pandemic has afflicted not only human beings but human economies. It has also revealed serious flaws, especially in supply chains, that predated the pandemic but have been exacerbated by it—especially the global dependence on China as the source of goods and materials. Fortunately, possibilities to adapt for the better exist, and it is likely that one long-term benefit of the virus will be prompting advantageous supply-chain changes.

Compliance has always been a challenge, but that challenge is becoming greater than ever for many financial institutions. The sheer number of employees with access to material nonpublic information (MNPI) is growing, and these individuals are highly dispersed due to the pandemic.

A visit to New Zealand is a step back to a time before the pandemic, when large crowds still congregated at events. New Zealand has been amongst the most successful in beating back COVID-19 and is bearing financial fruits with its enviable, relatively positive economic performance. But a strong recovery is not guaranteed for the country—which, while an island, depends on the rest of the world for its prosperity.

The Brexit referendum delivered a punch to the UK’s pound, but the currency has slowly picked itself up and gained some strength despite the pandemic, once again closing in on the US$1.40 mark in February. How well it fares over the next few months will depend on several factors—including the UK’s COVID-19 response but also the raft of unique issues that the nation will face as it evolves post-Brexit.

The United States has been devastated by COVID-19, enduring more deaths from the virus than any other country. Domestic markets have suffered sporadically, but surprisingly, not all of them. After a brief pause in early spring 2020, the real-estate market has soared and broken 15-year sales records. The main factors propelling these high home prices are low interest rates and short supply, creating a sellers’ market even during a pandemic.

Throughout the stress test of the past year, resilience rose to the height of visibility as many organizations faced new and daunting challenges. As a result, operational resilience simultaneously rose to the top of executives’ and regulators’ priorities. In fact, our recent exercises demonstrate that resilience is within the top three priorities on executive radars.