More regulation inevitable, say industry experts

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More regulation for financial services firms will be the inevitable result of the recent crisis, according to panellists on a recent OpRisk & Compliance roundtable, Beyond the crisis: Transforming risk and compliance.

Speakers said there would be much more of a focus on processes, systems and controls. “If you look at the financial services arena, a lot of the risks and resulting events that have happened have been related to the operational risks and lack of controls, or lack of adherence to controls that were on paper but not in force,” said Avi Eyal, chief executive officer at Cura Software.

While speakers admitted it is early days in terms of what shape the new regulatory framework will take, they said there were some obvious areas supervisors would be focusing on. Improved corporate governance and transparency related to derivatives is one hot topic.

“I think there will be immediate heightened scrutiny on financial institutions and what they are doing,” said Scott Kwarta, director, professional and advisory services, at OpenPages. “The exact area where regulators are focusing might vary, but I think there are going to be many touch points. I think we are going to see greater focus in the credit area, as well as regulation around financial instruments and derivatives.” This will enable more transparency for users, and also for stakeholders in financial services firms, such as equity holders.

To view the webinar, click here