Peer review of India

17 August 2016

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published today its peer review of India. The peer review examined two topics relevant for financial stability and important for India: the macroprudential policy framework, and the regulation and supervision of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs). The review focused on the steps taken by the authorities to implement reforms in these areas, including with respect to the recommendations in the 2012 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Continue reading…

Revised Pillar3 disclosure requirements

15 August 2016

The revisions to the disclosure requirements address shortcomings in Pillar 3 of the Basel framework. The revised disclosure requirements will enable market participants to better compare banks’ disclosures of risk-weighted assets. They form part of the Committee’s broader agenda to reform regulatory standards for banks in response to the global financial crisis. The revisions notably focus on improving the transparency of the internal model-based approaches that banks use to calculate minimum regulatory capital requirements.
Continue reading…

Corporates and compliance: Time to act

15 August 2016
Knowledge Base

by Robert Schneider

In an effort to ensure compliance with financial crime regulations, regulators globally are beginning to focus their attention on the corporate sector. Many companies are regarding this new responsibility with scepticism and try to assign it to their banks. However, due to the complexity of the respective regulations, this approach is neither constructive nor a free pass for the future. But by attending to the issue and acting quickly, they can avoid negative effects to their core business.
Continue reading…

Tony de Bree

Tony de Bree

Senior Management Consultant

Seven ways to reduce your financing needs as a start-up

13 August 2016

Recently  I was coaching and judging a number of local startups in my hometown, The Hague, in The Netherlands. The interesting fact is that many of those different entrepreneurs have a number of things in common and one of them is that they focus way too much on financing their company, their working capital and their investments and not enough on their customers and how to differentiate themselves from others. And the other thing that many of them have in common, large or small, is that they are asking for way too much money! Their financing needs are way to high. And that is a pity. So here are seven ways to reduce your financing needs as a start-up, inside or outside Fintech. 

Continue reading…

Cenkos failed to identify and manage properly the key risks

09 August 2016

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today fined Cenkos Securities plc (Cenkos) £530,500 for failures in its sponsor services business. Cenkos failed to have appropriate systems and controls in place across its sponsor services business, and, on a particular transaction, failed to act in its sponsor role with the level of diligence and professional care that the FCA expects.
Continue reading…

Principles of Corporate Governance

08 August 2016

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has launched a peer review on the implementation of the G20/Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Principles of Corporate Governance (Principles). The overarching objective of the review is to take stock of how FSB member jurisdictions have applied the Principles to publicly listed, regulated financial institutions, identifying effective practices and areas where good progress has been made while noting gaps and areas of weakness.  Continue reading…

Is Europe breaking bad?

04 August 2016

by Hans Bevers

The Bremain scenario was our (very uncomfortable) base case scenario going into the referendum but now seems (because it’s not 100% sure that an exit will happen) to be off the table. The effects of a Brexit both from an economic and asset allocation point of view are just impossible to ignore. That said, while the outcome is highly unwelcome, this is not the end of the world. The global economic recovery is still weak and of course Brexit will make things harder but doom scenarios in terms of huge economic fallout seem exaggerated for now. Moreover, European politics were already quite worrying even before this latest referendum.
Continue reading…

EBA stress test reassures but challenges lie elsewhere

04 August 2016

As anticipated the mostly positive results of the 2016 EBA stress tests show visibly strengthened EU banks’ capital position; however main emerging structural weakness remains untested. Referring to the EBA stress test results announced last Friday, Scope Ratings noted that as anticipated on aggregate they highlighted a much improved capital position for the large EU bank sector.
Continue reading…