The FSB published its fourth annual report on the implementation and effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms. Ten years after the crisis, the report highlights the progress made in the reform agenda as the FSB pivots towards implementation and rigorous evaluation. Looking ahead, the report highlights some challenges in promoting a financial system that supports the G20’s objective of strong, sustainable and balanced growth, while preserving open and integrated markets and adapting to rapid technological change.
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Dina-Perla Portnaar

When I type “Chief Spiritual Officer” in the search bar of LinkedIn, I get 65 hits. Some findings do not even match. All Chief Spiritual Officers come from the US and just one comes from Switserland. I find the results shockingly low and disappointing, because every organization needs a Chief Spiritual Officer to get through all the transitions and to stay future-proof. As long as organizations – and especially the corporate world – laugh about spirituality, do not want to transcend blind greed and do not want to approach mission and vision from a standpoint of soulfulness, we run great risks as a society. As long as we shake off spirituality as whoo-whoo, as long as we only mistakenly link spirituality again and again to religion, ideology or theology, as a society we run great risks.
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The European Central Bank (ECB) has published the ECB Regulation on the materiality threshold for credit obligations past due for all significant institutions within the Single Supervisory Mechanism, both for retail and for non-retail exposures, irrespective of the method used for the calculation of capital requirements. The ECB Regulation was approved by the ECB’s Governing Council following a public consultation, including a public hearing. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published its finalised Recommendations for national supervisors: Reporting on the use of compensation tools to address potential misconduct risk. The recommendations complement the FSB’s the Supplementary Guidance to the FSB Principles and Standards on Sound Compensation Practices by setting out the types of data that can support improved monitoring by supervisory authorities on the use of compensation tools to address misconduct risk in significant financial institutions.
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a further consultation on its approach to the UK’s exit from the EU. Today’s paper sets out additional proposals to prepare for the possibility the UK leaves the European Union on 29 March 2019 without an implementation period. The FCA is working to ensure as smooth a transition as possible as the UK prepares to leave the European Union. Earlier this year, we set out the FCA’s role in preparing for Brexit. This consultation, along with those published in October, is an important part of this work.
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The Financial Conduct Authority proposed to introduce a price cap on the rent-to-own (RTO) sector. The cap, subject to consultation, will come into force on 1 April 2019 providing protection for some of the most financially vulnerable people in the UK. Once in force, the changes are expected to save consumers up to £22.7m per year.
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Commission sets out EU’s economic and social priorities for 2019 and confirms Italy’s serious non-compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact. The Commission adopted the Autumn package which represents the beginning of the 2019 European Semester cycle of economic and social policy coordination. Today’s package is based on the Autumn 2018 Economic Forecast and builds on the priorities set out in President Juncker’s 2018 State of the Union address.
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Societe Generale Group (SCGLY – Free Report) has agreed to pay nearly $1.4 billion to the authorities in the United States. This comes as this French banking giant decides to settle some of its long-pending legal disputes. Of the total fine, nearly $95 million is expected to be paid to settle a dispute over violations of anti-money laundering regulations. On the other hand, the bank said that it will pay $1.34 billion to settle allegations that it processed billions of dollars in transactions related to countries under sanctions.
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The new auto rules in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) could add costs for automakers and reduce the industry’s overall global competitiveness, industry representatives have warned. Testifying before the U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday, John Bozzella, president of the Association of Global Automakers, said the new agreement could hurt the industry. “It is clear that the USMCA auto origin rules will introduce unnecessary complexity, require costly changes to supply chains and potentially redundant investments.”
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In her speech, during the Fintech Festival in Singapore, Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, recognized that digitalization has its influence on the financial sector. So she said: “A new wind is blowing, that of digitalization. In this new world, we meet anywhere, any time. The town square is back – virtually, on our smartphones. We exchange information, services, even emojis, instantly… peer to peer, person to person. We float through a world of information, where data is the “new gold”- despite growing concerns over privacy, and cyber-security. A world in which millennials are reinventing how our economy works, phone in hand. And this is key: money itself is changing. We expect it to become more convenient and user-friendly, perhaps even less serious-looking.”
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