English in Banking blog
The retail payments transformation and how it affects you
Retail payments is undergoing a profound and ground-breaking transformation in Switzerland, which is having a significant impact on consumers, merchants and corporates as well as on banks and payment service providers.
What could the roll-out for instant payments mean for Switzerland? Three evolutions to consider
The wide-scale rollout of instant payments planned for August 2024 will require financial institutions to upgrade their payments systems, and the market participants may see fundamentals shift. Here we look at three evolutions and their impact on payments in Switzerland.
Join our Financial Services tax webinar on 9 November 2022 at 08:30 to discuss legislative developments, court cases and practice
We would like to invite you to our half yearly webinar where we provide key updates and discuss recent tax developments that are important for the financial services industry on Wednesday 9 November 2022 at 08:30.
Challenger banks: Disrupting the Swiss market
This blog is the first in a series on the impact of challenger banks on the Swiss market. It provides insights into how challenger banks threaten to disrupt traditional banks, the different types of banks that are entering the market, and the need to adapt the challenger banks’ operating models to grow successfully.
Today, banks are changing rapidly to keep up with their customers, who are demanding better experiences and more sophisticated products and services from their providers. For most people, visiting a bank branch used to be the main way of interacting with their bank. However, more and more people are choosing to interact with their banks digitally rather than through a traditional bank set-up.
Join our External Asset Managers Events - Accelerating M&A in an environment of consolidation and regulatory change
The External Asset Management (EAM) sector has started to change dramatically. The pressure of regulatory changes, increased costs, organic growth challenges and requirement for adapted investment offerings have accelerated M&A amongst EAMs considerably in the past 12 months, and we expect this trend to continue in the coming months and years.
We are hosting external asset management events (Lugano 28th of September, Geneva 29th of September and Zurich 26th of October) and will highlight key learnings from recently announced M&A transactions, as well as key considerations for market participants to take advantage of current sector dynamics.
New US Tax identification number requirements create unworkable situations for Qualified Intermediaries
The IRS has recently announced a number of changes related to identification requirements impacting Qualified Intermediaries (QIs). This blog is the first of a two-part series and describes how the current design of the Secure Access Account (SAA), and in particular the request to provide a US Tax identification number to validate the QI’s Responsible Officials identity, would impair the QIs’ capabilities to comply with their electronic reporting obligations through FIRE. The second part of this series, covering QI’s new due diligence challenges linked to their non-US account holders’ US Tax identification number requirement for 1446(a) and 1446(f) purposes, will follow in a separate blog.
The Deloitte approach to strategically realign risk management in banks
The operating model of banks is under significant pressure to change. This also affects the risk functions. A survey conducted by Deloitte Switzerland in March 2022 found that risk managers are increasingly concerned with the transformation that is occurring. The four key issues of digitalisation, strategic positioning, governance and 3 LoD organisation are potentially far-reaching strategic topics in the risk area. There is an unmistakable trend towards digitalisation in risk management and corporate governance.
Rapidly changing Sanctions regime: Recommendations for financial institutions to manage the risks sustainably
As the severity of the Western sanctions against Russia increases, client and reputational risks for financial institutions are becoming apparent regarding clients with a close association to sanctioned entities. Senior management must strike a delicate balance between protecting the reputation of the bank and the potential adverse consequences to their clients, whilst maintaining full regulatory compliance. Therefore, decisions should be supported by thorough analysis and expert recommendations. We recommend three ways for senior management to make this process more sustainable: i) ensure everyone in the organisation has the same view of what acceptable relationships look like ii) outline minimum factors to consider as part of any decision-making process iii) facilitate by standardising and automating of the required data gathering.
Accelerating consolidation dynamic among Swiss External Asset Managers amid regulatory and profitability challenges ahead
With approximately 2,500 External Asset Managers (EAMs) and Trustees managing between CHF475-600bn of AuM, Switzerland is one of the most active and fragmented wealth management centres globally. The sector finds itself at the crossroads of a multitude of national and international trends. Industry players are struggling to grow organically via the recruitment of senior Relationship Managers (RMs) able to attract sufficient client assets. Meanwhile revenue margins are decreasing, weighing on the industry at large. Clients’ demand for alpha generation, notably through differentiated and sustainable offerings, and implementation of the Financial Institutions Act (FINIG) are further challenges to EAMs’ profitability. In some cases the new regulatory approval process has discouraged EAMs from filing an application.
As a result there has been a notable increase in the number of M&A transactions in Switzerland over the past 18 months, and in particular since the beginning of 2022. Consolidation in the industry is picking up speed.
Why banks struggle to create inspiring content
This blogpost is the third in our five-part series on “Five strategic imperatives for marketing and sales executives in banking”.
Here’s a question for you: When was the last time you read a post or watched a video from your bank? Let’s pretend that you do remember – what did you think of it?
The answer is likely to be on a scale from “it was ok” to “I don’t remember”. And perhaps you don’t expect more – after all, it’s content from a bank and not The Economist, right?
This should be a wake-up call for banks, as our latest study reveals that more than 70% of all prospects and clients look for banking products & services information online before making a purchase decision.
Based on our experience planning and implementing various content creation and distribution initiatives for banks, we believe that talking about financial topics in simple terms and educating investors is key. Banks should aim to compete with top content creators and news outlets.