Dave DeMuro has been at Lehman Brothers for two decades but nothing could have prepared him for the past few years. “The pace of rule-making is approaching the speed of light,” he says. “The pace of change and level of expectation from regulators have put enormous pressure on compliance personnel. The work is harder, both in terms of hours on the job and stress levels, because the stakes have become so high.”

As they cut back investment bankers’ jobs, Wall Street’s bulge bracket firms strengthened their compliance departments to cope with growing regulation and scrutiny, and the rising salaries have begun to attract staff from regulatory bodies into corporate territory. By Sophie Roell.

As regulation tightens, banks are taking a firm stand. While acknowledging some rules are necessary, they want some room to manoeuvre. Michael Imeson reports.
The law of unintended consequences has once more been at work. International regulators, bent on constraining the global financial services industry with ever more laws and rules, have unwittingly helped to bring about the creation of a powerful counterforce, the International Banking Federation (IbFed). Its main purpose: to protect the vital interests of banks around the world from harmful legislative and regulatory action and other threats.
The banking industry accepts that much regulation – domestic as well as international – is necessary and, although there is a great deal of regulation that is of borderline use and cumbersome in its approach, they can live with it.

Credit rating agencies, currently under EU scrutiny, maintain that they need neither harmonisation of standards nor more rules – and the banking industry agrees. Sergio Beristain reports.

Judith Hardt, secretary general, European Mortgage Federation explores the EU regulatory developments in covered bonds – past, present and future.

Baijayanta Chakrabarti and R Prabahar outline a four-phase, seven-step approach to help banks plan and implement their compliance with the Basel II Capital Accord.

Developing internal rating systems is a crucial first step towards mitigating credit risk under Basel II for many banks, writes H S Rajashekhar.

With banking regulation tightening and outsourcing increasing, Pradeep Godbole examines how institutions can keep their noses clean.

As financial services firms are bombarded by new regulations, they are being forced to change their methods of reporting. This is generating a massive shift in IT investment, says Anthony Gandy.

Banks around the world are facing increasing regulatory obligations and ballooning associated costs. Michael Imeson examines some of the advice that is on offer on how to cope with the ever-increasing demands.