Swathes of global banking business could be under threat as geopolitical instability looks set to become the norm.
The demise of the US dollar as the world’s top reserve currency has been endlessly debated, but some observers believe that the recent sanctions against Russia might be a real turning point.
Russia has effectively been ejected from the global economy by the West — a move that will stress its banks and could have frightening unintended consequences.
January saw a rush of announcements about central bank digital currencies, as they enter their next phase of development.
Just three leading cloud providers pose a growing challenge in terms of the operational resilience of banks and this worries financial regulators.
The European Commission’s approach to implementing Basel III into the EU’s banking framework attempts to be faithful, but is filled with divergences and delays.
Issuers of US dollar-backed stablecoins could be nearing an existential threat as regulators clearly want to subject them to tough banking rules.
With China’s Evergrande in deep trouble, some are wondering if it could trigger another global financial crisis.
Crypto firms have been vocal about how the US’s damaging approach to their industry is stifling innovation to the benefit of Asian and European competitors.
International standard setters are closing in on cryptoassets and their interventions are likely to intensify in the regulated sphere of the financial services industry, but that is not necessarily bad news for banks.
The UK looks set to tread an increasingly independent path on financial services, veering more towards the US and emerging markets. Hopes of gaining equivalence from the EU on financial services are fading.
Regulators are riding to the rescue of traditional banks, making it harder for cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance to dethrone them.
The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book has proved monumentally difficult to implement, but there could be a positive consequence around the management of data.
Just how radical can the UK be in terms of re-writing its post-Brexit financial regulatory framework? Not much, it appears.
From a distant corner of the financial system comes another failure, hot on the heels of Wirecard’s collapse. The latest saga involves Greensill Capital, which also slipped through the regulatory net.
New opportunities may beckon for the City of London as the UK looks at tweaking its regulatory regime.
Severe dislocation last year led one Bank of England official to ask whether central banks must become market makers of last resort.
Although no more big changes are expected to the Basel framework, it will still be a busy year for compliance departments.
A Democratic administration has big implications for banks as corporate taxes could rise and supervision could become more demanding.
Commercial banks should keep an eye on the development of central bank digital currencies: they could have a profound impact on the financial system and on banking business models.