Following the Rules

Today’s guest outlines how he expects financial services regulators in the UK and European Union to react to President Trump’s increasingly erratic policymaking. He details the regulatory changes he believes are needed to ensure the UK government achieves its growth mission and he highlights what Brussels must get right if the EU is serious about remaining globally competitive. He also explains why it is imperative that governments — from London to Washington — pay close attention to the quiet storm building in global bond markets. Mathew Gilbert brings two decades of experience to this conversation, including roles at hedge fund Abaco Asset Management and boutique investment bank KBW. Since 2016, he has led government policy and regulatory strategy firm Capstone’s European operations from London, advising financial institutions’ C-suites, and investors navigating today’s fast-evolving regulatory landscape. Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...

Today’s guest is on a mission to bring ethics and compliance to the top table. She explains why ethics and compliance professionals should be given a seat in the boardroom and what’s stopping them from getting there.  She also discusses how businesses and their compliance executives can best navigate today’s increasingly fragmented regulatory environment, and she shares practical steps boards can take to embrace ESG and DEI principles amidst ongoing backlash without getting caught in the crossfire. Vera Cherepanova has spent two decades working in audit, compliance, and ethics, including roles at global professional services firm EY and as an independent adviser to companies worldwide. Since 2024, she has worked as the executive director of Boards of the Future, a nonprofit working with boards, professionals, and investors in the US, UK, and EU to ensure ethics, compliance, and risk experts have a voice in corporate governance.   Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...  

Today’s guest explains how the world’s largest interdealer brokers is rethinking its approach to surveillance.  He outlines the benefits of adopting a more behaviourally led methodology to monitor financial services workers’ conduct, which he says provides a more holistic view of workplace culture when run alongside traditional surveillance. He details the common mistakes finance bosses should avoid when seeking to measure workplace conduct and culture. And he discusses what guidance the Financial Conduct Authority must provide the market to ensure its efforts to more closely track City worker’s non-financial misconduct are truly effective. Nik Bunney spent just under 13 years as a broker before moving into compliance monitoring in 2018. He joined broking giant TPICAP in 2023 and since 2024, he has run its targeted surveillance team. He will be explaining exactly what it is that department does in this episode.    Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...   ***PODCAST NOTES*** Behavioural risk experts Dr. Wieke Scholten and David Grosse outline where the banking sector and its regulators are going wrong in their approach to managing their cultural concerns ABCD: Finding Happiness through Awareness, Values, Principles, and Actions  

Today’s guest outlines how the compliance function, and those working within it, can best navigate today’s rapidly changing technological and regulatory environment. She discusses the industry's response to increasing regulatory scrutiny around surveillance as well as on bankers’ non-financial misconduct. And she explains why in amongst all the change it is critical that compliance officers do not to lose sight of the “foundational building blocks” of their role.  Melissa Gallagher has spent 30 years working in various compliance roles most recently at large US banks in London. With a background in sales and trading compliance, she has run the compliance and operational risk function in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for US banking giant JP Morgan since 2019.   

Today’s guest outlines how he expects the rightward shift in global politics, from Trump’s resurgence to Europe’s own populist movements, is likely to reshape financial services regulation in the UK and EU.  He discusses how bank lobbyists and policymakers can navigate these shifting tides, why the industry’s “disturbing” response to the US ban on federal diversity and inclusion programmes must serve as a wake-up call, and how he believes UK and EU policymakers can best drive growth in this era of rising political uncertainty. And he should know. Because Alan Houmann’s near 40-year career includes stints as an economist at the UK Treasury, advising the European Commission and FCA predecessor the Financial Services Authority on financial services policy, and 16 years leading government affairs across EMEA for US banking giant Citigroup. Since 2023, he has worked as a trustee for thinktank Chatham House and in 2024 he became senior policy adviser to consultancy Rud Pedersen. 

Today’s guest outlines why she believes the government’s efforts to boost the UK’s economic growth are more likely to succeed if they include a fundamental shift in how the City talks about its capital markets and a rethink of how the City’s regulators are incentivised to support the growth mission.  She also discusses the remaining regulatory steps needed to encourage more retail and domestic participation in London’s capital markets, and ultimately give the UK’s equity capital markets a long-anticipated boost.  Julia Hoggett’s career includes several senior roles at some of the world’s largest banks, and a seven-year stint at the Financial Conduct Authority. Since 2021, she has run the London Stock Exchange as its CEO. 

Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a global technology firm providing financial services companies of all sizes around the world with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications.  Today’s guests discuss the regulatory priorities they believe will have the greatest influence on financial institutions’ communications surveillance programmes in 2025 and beyond.  They detail the common mistakes finance bosses must avoid when seeking to respond to these increasing regulatory demands.  And they outline how the vast volumes of communications data currently being gathered by financial institutions for compliance purposes can also be used strategically to help these same institutions grow their businesses.  Kim Crawford Goodman is CEO of Smarsh. Ryan Kahan is co-founder and CEO of CallCabinet, a technology firm recently acquired by Smarsh, which captures voice and video communications data.  

In this discussion, Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the FCA since 2020, shares his vision for the regulator's objectives leading up to 2025. He highlights the challenges of balancing regulatory duties with the need for innovation and growth in the financial sector. Rathi candidly discusses the intense public scrutiny he faces and the progress made in enforcing regulations, particularly around non-financial misconduct. The conversation also touches on the FCA's global strategy and ongoing efforts to enhance market integrity amidst evolving digital landscapes.

Today’s guest calls on the government and City regulators to agree a “common vision” with the investment management industry to better enable those working in the sector to generate long-term growth in the UK. He details the areas where he believes the Financial Conduct Authority “still needs to demonstrate that they have completely understood” the government’s drive to make the UK a more attractive investment destination. He also explains why he supports calls to get rid of what he sees as unnecessary red tape introduced under the Senior Managers and Certification regime, and plenty more besides.  Chris Cummings’ career spans four decades and includes several senior posts in the industry, as well as within global consulting firms. He was the founding chief executive of lobby group TheCityUK from 2010 until 2016 when he became CEO of the Investment Association, the trade body for UK-based investment managers.

Today’s guests explain where they believe banks and their regulators are going wrong in their efforts to “fix” the sector’s cultural issues. They detail how lawmakers, financial bosses and their supervisors can best ensure that ongoing and increasing efforts to loosen rules governing behaviour in the industry don’t lead to a repeat of previous banking crises. And they outline why they believe it is critical that the industry and all its stakeholders take steps now to better understand “the complex behavioural landscape” in which they operate. Dr. Wieke Scholten is a social and organisational psychologist with a particular focus on the financial services sector. Her 21-year career includes five years as a senior supervisor of behaviour and culture at the Dutch prudential regulator DNB and two years as head of behavioural risk at NatWest.  David Grosse’s 30-year career, meanwhile, includes several senior audit, risk and COO positions at various banking giants including Barclays and HSBC. In 2017, he formed a behavioural risk team within HSBC Global Banking and Markets, which he then ran until leaving the bank in 2022 to work as an independent consultant advising organisations on conduct, culture and behavioural risk.