Compliance: From obligation to business value Complaints by banks over ever more onerous compliance obligations are well rehearsed and frequently expressed with feeling. Banks often saw compliance primarily as a defensive function: a department regarded as something of a potential adversary, necessary only to satisfy regulators, avoid fines and prevent reputational damage. Compliance

ESG in Europe on hold despite transatlantic divide A slew of high‑profile mandate withdrawals from US asset managers points to a growing rift with European investors over ESG. Yet this has done little to revive ESG momentum in Europe, where policy initiatives remain largely on hold. Sustainable investing has become something of a

Iran war upends commodities market The old assumption that commodities markets were primarily driven by supply, demand and economic growth has been overtaken by events. Perhaps like never before, the Iran war has underlined that commodities are geopolitical assets. The initial market reaction to the Iran conflict was predictable. Crude oil prices surged

AI governance and compliance in banking Bank compliance: Rising regulatory expectations Compliance in the age of AI Artificial intelligence is transforming banking at pace. It might be thought that AI’s proven ability to generate significant efficiencies across a range of departments would apply equally to compliance; that AI’s capabilities might make up for

Bank compliance: Rising regulatory expectations Bank compliance: Rising regulatory expectations Veteran bankers will remember a time when the compliance department was viewed as something of an irritation, and its pronouncements treated more as recommendations than as diktats. Those days are emphatically over. Bank regulators now expect compliance capability to operate as a core