In recent weeks, we have witnessed the successive bankruptcies of three banks in the United States, as well as the hasty takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. This chain of events inevitably calls into question whether this trajectory echoes the...

The momentum towards a low-carbon economic system is only set to grow. Financial services firms are pivotal actors in the transition; consequently, increasing demands are being put on them to demonstrate their sustainable finance activities and credentials. This blog explains...

Implementing credible environmental, social and governance (ESG) actions requires successful enablers. So how can firms identify these enablers and, crucially, remove barriers to implementation? If we take our latest C-Suite Sustainability Barometer, we can see that out of the over...

In an interview, Korbinian Ibel, Director General at the European Central Bank (ECB), shares insight on how bank-specific direct supervision works, what the current risks and challenges are, and priorities to look out for in the coming years. What does...

The market is seeing a growing trend for real estate management companies seeking to speed up the process of closing their accounts. This is largely due to the positioning of real estate funds in life insurance contracts requiring increasingly shorter...

As regulated entities execute their post-Brexit strategies and relocate their European Union (EU) operations from the UK to other EU states, a key issue to be addressed for those relocating to Ireland remain to be the impending legislative changes surrounding...

The working environment has always been an important factor for companies' performance and their ability to attract talent. With the rise of remote work, this aspect has become critical: companies now have to ‘seduce’ staff to return to the office....

The pandemic has had a significant impact on our entire ecosystem. We have seen global CO2 emissions fall by a record 7% in 20201 benefitting the environment. Yet, at the same time, we have seen adverse consequences for the mental...

American entrepreneur, Malcolm Forbes, once described diversity as “the art of thinking independently together”. Today, diversity is beginning to emerge as a quintessential workforce norm and institutions have started to acknowledge the differences in their staff compositions that are deeply...

Gender equality, while not systematically embedded in national laws, is clearly set in European law. The Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) requires financial institutions to adopt a policy promoting diversity within their management bodies and, for the most significant ones, to...

New technology, regulatory developments and societal changes, including those linked to strengthening stakeholder engagement, are substantially impacting financial services as well as the rest of the business community. For businesses to succeed in this fast-changing environment they must be led...

At the last G20 summit in Buenos Aires, leaders called for the full implementation of all major international financial reforms intended to improve the financial system, in particular, those drawn up by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Basel...

On March 11 and 12, 2019, Mazars attended the 30th annual conference organized by the Institute of International Bankers (IIB). Agencies and regulators serving as speakers and panelists this year, included: •The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) •The Department of the...

Within the insurance industry, automatic exchange of information under Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is mainly relevant to life insurers, since non-life insurance and reinsurance activities generally do not give rise to classification...

The complexities of creating and implementing a due diligence framework to monitor and measure the impact financial services have on human rights can be overwhelming. The EU recommended UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights Reporting Framework (www.UNGPreporting.org) -...

In the financial industry in general and the insurance sector in particular, traditional business models are increasingly coming under pressure – a trend that reflects technological, economic and social changes. At first glance, this represents a risk for insurance firms,...

The vast array of legal and supervisory requirements for determining a business model draws attention away from the inherent and indispensable need that a successful entrepreneur has for such a model. In the past, was an entrepreneur who had decided...

In this third article of our thought leadership programme around the transformation of Financial Services, we are focusing on how new business models are emerging.  “THIS IS A WORLD OF SIX-MONTH PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CYCLES AND CONSTANT UPDATES, PRIMARILY OF SOFTWARE,...

As recent as 26 September 2017, the European Banking Authority (EBA) under the Directive 2013/36/EU published its revised guidelines on harmonising the internal governance arrangements of banks across the European Union. The EBA Guidelines will apply as of 30 June...

One of the main differentiators FinTechs have is their current positioning within the financial services value chain ecosystem: they focus on customer experience while their operations execution and control activities are often outsourced to banking institutions. However, is this likely...

As chief risk officer and executive committee member of Atlas Insurance PCC, Ian-Edward Stafrace is passionate about effective enterprise risk management and seeking opportunity from risk. Here Alan Craig and Enrico Federici of Mazars in Malta, talk to him about...

Measuring banking risks is a difficult exercise, but striking a balance between simplistic and overly complex measurement techniques is the key to accurate risk measurement. This was the substance of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Chair of the Supervisory Board,...

“Blockchain is a bit like gluten. Everyone is talking about it, but no one knows what it is,” said Tim Swanson, head of research at R3, the financial technology innovation firm that is leading a consortium partnership working on blockchain...

Customers trust their banks with an increasing amount of data that paints a picture not just about their financial situation and preferences, but about their lifestyles. Bank of Ireland's Garvan Callan, Director, Customer, Digital & Innovation talks to Liam McKenna...

Basel 4 and Single Supervisory Mechanism act to reduce the excessive variability in the results of internal model approaches to credit risk. For more than ten years, Basel reform has encouraged the development and use of internal models designed to better...

At the same time as regulators as a whole express their support for the harmonisation, transparency and comparability of banking models at the European level, a new consultative document published by the Basel Committee on 24 March 2016 partly calls...

We recognise digitisation as an important topic for the financial services industry; for this reason, we have developed a content programme with the Economist Intelligence Unit that focuses on how Financial Services companies are adapting their risk and reporting procedures to...

By 2025, The Wall Street Journal ([1]) estimated that Generation Y, also known as Millennials, would represent nearly half of the total active population in the world. The challenge for banks is to adapt their strategy to match Generation Y...