English in Banking blog
Changing FSI CRO priorities one year into the COVID crisis – Insights from the 9th Deloitte Risk Executive Network (REN)
In 2018, Deloitte Switzerland launched a Risk Executive Network (REN) for CROs in leading Swiss banks, to exchange views on risk in the financial services industry. The REN holds three events each year, attended by up to 15 CROs from leading financial institutions. The impact of COVID-19 on financial institutions, the economic downturn and the changes brought about by working from home all have far-reaching implications for risk, compliance and regulatory management functions. Prior to the regulatory measures that were taken in response to COVID-19, risk management in banks was concerned primarily with issues of scale and scope. Priorities have changed as expectations about the future have adjusted to today’s uncertain environment.
What is the best governance structure for climate change risk?
Over the past year, it has been rare to see a day without a climate change risk - related announcement by a financial institution, banking industry organisation or regulator. And a number of them touch on governance issues.
Strategic trends and implications for bank operating models
This article is the first in a series on how Swiss banks can transform their operating models towards a new normal. The Deloitte Financial Services Transformation team will be publishing on an ongoing basis its perspectives on the key implications, international best practice and potential solutions that banks might implement.
A moving target: Refocusing risk and resilience amid continuing uncertainty
The impact of COVID-19 on financial institutions, the economic downturn, and changes to working practices have had broad implications for risk management. How has risk management already responded and what are the implications for strategically restructuring risk functions?
The ever-evolving role of an Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) responsible person - Join our live training on 3 March at 16.00 CET
Both US FATCA and the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) require Financial Institutions (FIs) to put in place processes, procedures and overall governance to enable accurate reporting of information about the FI’s account holders and/or controlling persons thereof, to certain tax authorities. These rules, which are commonly referred to as the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), have become business as usual over the past six years. However, these rules are practically complex to implement and maintain, and can expose FIs to significant risks. Key challenges include manual processes, local expertise requirements, systems interfacing, documentation and data deficiencies, and requirements that are often unclear and continuously change. Jurisdictions around the globe are starting to take audit action.
Looking to safeguard mortgage leads in the “digital new normal”?
The lockdowns of 2020 have accelerated the adoption of digital channels by as much as five years. When potential clients change how they interact with their financial providers, banks are prompted to act. They have to adjust their mortgage distribution strategy to maintain or increase the level of leads and therefore mortgage volumes. Online and mobile channels are finally starting to live up to their potential. For example, the percentage of clients taking out mortgages online has increased around 15 percentage points compared to pre- COVID – a trend that is expected to continue. Similarly, phone and video advisory has finally made a long-awaited breakthrough.
What can Swiss financial services companies do to win in the market?
Over the past decade, Swiss financial institutions, banks, insurance companies and asset managers have been facing challenging times, and this has resulted in the number of key performance indicators deteriorating. In parallel to this, a number of new entrants came into the market: Fintech, Insurtech, new banks which have grabbed market share from the traditional players in order to gain market share. Watch Deloitte Switzerland’s Financial Services Industry leader Jean-Francois Lagasse’s video statement to find out how financial services companies need to embrace change to win in the marketplace and read this blog post for more detailed information.
Partnership withholding regulations and the QI agreement: Impact on banks’ compliance and market offerings
In October 2020, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published the final regulations under section 1446(f) of the US Internal Revenue Code (IRC) (hereinafter “final regulations”). The final regulations set out the detailed withholding and reporting requirements in relation to a non-US person selling an interest in a partnership that is engaged in a US trade or business.
In this blog, we summarise how the final regulations and the planned changes to the Qualified Intermediary (QI) agreement affect non-US banks that hold publicly traded partnership (PTP) interests in custody for their clients. We also outline why acting as a Nonqualified Intermediary (NQI) with respect to PTP interests, which is a common practice amongst various Swiss and Liechtenstein banks, may no longer be a feasible approach as of 1 January 2022.
A new dawn for Independent Asset Managers and Trustees
After a very testing 2020, 2021 brings different kinds of challenges for independent asset managers (IAMs) and Trustees. Beyond managing the risks from the pandemic, IAMs and Trustees have to make sure they also bring their risk management and governance system up to speed with FINMA requirements, as spelt out in the raft of new rules in FinIA, FinSA, FinIO and FMIO-FINMA. Now is the time to act, as all the new rules are finally out and in place, with the last piece of the puzzle published in November by FINMA1.
Many IAMs are still in the process of getting their applications and organisations ready, and FINMA has only granted a few licenses so far, which means the bulk of the work is ahead for most organisations. Several things should be on IAMs’ and Trustees’ list:
Financial service providers should not ignore the risk of loan defaults – Part 2
This is the second part of our blog series on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Swiss banks and the increased risk of loan defaults. Read the first part here.