The Banker Shorts – Week ending June 2, 2023

Trending topics

• Cover story: The chief risk officer’s critical role — Joy Macknight | Click here to read

The pivotal role that an organisation’s chief risk officer plays was underscored when it came to light that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) had been without one for nine months before its collapse. While not everyone agrees that this was the main contributor to SVB’s downfall, clearly not having someone in such a key position meant the difficult questions that should have been asked weren’t asked.

• Australia in the hot seat for money-laundering failures — James King | Click here to read

In February, the Australian Federal Police smashed an alleged A$10bn ($6.5bn) global money-laundering syndicate in Sydney. Law enforcement agents seized hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of real estate, cash and luxury items and arrested nine people for multiple money-laundering and proceeds of crime offences. 

The operation has underscored Australia’s status as the destination of choice for laundering illicit funds in the Asia-Pacific.

• UK banks step up to address staff mental health issues — Bill Lumley | Click here to read

MHFA England’s discovery of a high level of mental health pressures among banks and financial services staff supports those of a Deloitte survey last year, which found an increase of 25% in the cost of poor mental health to employers compared with 2019. The survey also found that 28% of employees either left in 2021 or were planning to leave their jobs in 2022, with 61% citing poor mental health as the reason they are leaving.

• KfW spearheads digitalisation in securities issuance — Shanny Basar | Click here to read
• PRA raises the bar on model risk management — Marie Kemplay | Click here to read

Opinion sharers

• Zeroing in on the social dimension — Joy Macknight | Click here to read

A panel at the recent Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women Summit 2023 in Mumbai, entitled ‘The ‘S’ factor: shifting focus in ESG investments’, discussed the business imperative of prioritising social goals, particularly women’s financial inclusion and empowerment, and the importance of data, as well as practical advice on embedding and tracking social metrics in a company’s ESG strategy.

• Bank runs in the digital age — Etay Katz | Click here to read

Deposit runs are universally caused by a chain of events that in aggregate result in depositors no longer having a high degree of trust that the bank is stable and can return their deposit monies when asked to do so.

While this may occur much earlier and faster among depositors that are not protected by a deposit insurance cover, it must not be assumed that insured depositors would not participate in a run should one occur.

• Reassessing how Africa trades — David Luke | Click here to read
• Two major banks exit Ireland — who is filling the gap? — Aaron McGarry | Click here to read

Globe at a glance

• Qatar’s growth set to ease after strong World Cup year — James King | Click here to read

“If you look at the PMI surveys, they’ve been in expansion since February and rising every month. Sentiment is running high across all sectors, but especially among manufacturers,” says Maya Senussi, senior economist for the Middle East at Oxford Economics.

Even so, it will be difficult for the Qatari economy to replicate the one-off impact of the World Cup in 2023, and as such, growth is expected to moderate in the coming months.

• The Banker’s Top 30 Asean Banks 2023 — Kimberley Long | Click here to read
• Islamic Bank of the Year Awards 2023 — John Everington | Click here to read
• The Banker’s Top 30 Caribbean Banks 2023 — Barbara Pianese | Click here to read

Bits and bobs

• Fintech Fortnightly – May 31, 2023 — Liz Lumley | Click here to read
• The Banker Board – June 1, 2023 — Peter Newman | Click here to read

Watch and listen

• Video — Diego Labat, governor, Banco Central del Uruguay — interview | Click here to watch

Diego Labat, governor of the central bank of Uruguay, speaks with Latam editor Barbara Pianese about the country’s monetary policy and appreciating currency.

• Podcast – The Banker Midweek | May 31, 2023 | Click here to listen