Following the Rules

Today’s episode is a little different to normal. It’s a recording of a panel discussion I was Invited to moderate a recent event convened by the Managed Funds Association or MFA, the global trade body for the alternative asset management industry, and organised by POLITICO. The discussion brought together senior figures from across financial services, regulation and policymaking to explore one of...

Today’s guest argues that one of the biggest risks facing financial services isn’t market volatility or even regulatory complexity. It’s the growing politicisation of the rulebook around the world. As geopolitical tensions rise and regulatory regimes increasingly diverge, he warns that firms are being forced to navigate a world where consistency and predictability can no longer be taken for grante...

Today’s episode is produced in association with Willis, one of the world’s leading risk advisory, broking and solutions businesses. It is also part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change. Insurance has traditionally been viewed as a way of transferring risk. But for financial institutions facing rising regula...

Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series exploring how financial institutions can navigate legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change in practice. In this episode, we look at why traditional approaches to compliance training are increasingly falling short in a regulatory environment focused on culture, conduct and behavioural risk. Against this backdrop, firms are now faci...

Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change. In this episode, we turn to a role that has quietly but fundamentally shifted over the past decade: the Chief Compliance Officer. Once seen primarily as a control function, compliance is now expected to sit at the centre of strategy, shaping deci...

Today’s guest argues that after decades of regulatory expansion, compliance is still failing at the basics. From incomplete client records to fragmented legacy systems, he warns that poor data remains one of the industry’s most persistent, and underestimated, risks. He challenges the industry’s growing reliance on process, questioning whether accountability regimes and surveillance have come at th...

Today’s episode is a special one, produced in association with Smarsh, an AI technology firm providing global financial institutions with tools to capture, store and monitor their communications across 100+ channels.  This episode is part of our ‘Following the Rules: How To’ series, focused on practical guidance for firms navigating legal, regulatory and technological change. In this episode, we t...

Today’s guest is better known to the FBI as ‘Tipper X’, a former hedge fund analyst who became a key cooperating witness in the largest insider trading enforcement sweep in a generation, helping authorities bring cases against more than 80 individuals. In this episode, he explains why market abuse is rarely a single rogue act. Instead, it’s an incremental process, driven by performance pressure, n...

Today’s guest sets out the Financial Conduct Authority’s to-do list for 2026 and beyond. She details the watchdog’s plans to future-proof UK financial regulation, and outlines what City firms should expect as landmark reforms, including new rules on non-financial misconduct, begin to bed down. She discusses the FCA’s efforts to build a more open relationship with financial institutions and explain...

Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change. In this episode, we turn to one of the most challenging and fast-evolving areas of regulatory focus: non-financial misconduct. With the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority set to introduce new rules this year that explicitly bring serious non-financ...

  Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Symphony, a secure and compliant communications and markets technology provider, offering messaging, voice, directory and analytics for financial markets and trading teams.  It also forms part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for n...

Today’s guest is leading the UK’s audit regulator through reform without the legislative powers originally promised. Two years into the job, he argues the Financial Reporting Council is acting anyway, using proportionate, common-sense regulation to support growth and investment. He sets out a pragmatic agenda for keeping UK audit credible and relevant, covering everything from market concentration...

Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules, produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape. The series offers practical insights to help firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change. Today, we’re examining one of the most complex shifts in modern fi...

Today’s guest delivers a blunt warning to policymakers, arguing the UK has made “a massive mistake” by failing to stop trading venues from charging for market data - a failure she says has weakened the country’s competitiveness. She calls on the government to “wake up and listen” to the scale of the issue or risk losing ground to rival financial centres. She also argues that the industry’s fixatio...

Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape. The series offers practical insights to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change. In this episode, we’re diving into one of the m...

Today’s guest outlines how the accelerating pace of regulatory change poses significant challenges for global financial institutions. He highlights that fragmentation can create a complex landscape for banks’ compliance divisions, and underscores the benefits of adopting a more coordinated, risk-based approach to rulemaking. He also discusses how the industry could best evolve the traditional thre...

Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape. The series offers practical insights to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change. In this episode, we explore two closely-linked...

Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a technology firm providing global financial institutions with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications. It’s part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical guidance to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change. In this episode, we look at a ho...

Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape. It also forms part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultura...

Today’s guest discusses how some wholesale financial institutions may be unnecessarily “gold-plating” their efforts to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty regime. She details how the regulator plans to both clarify and simplify its expectations of all firms subject to the far-reaching ruleset. She also discusses the FCA’s plans to help firms, both large and small, navigate...

Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a technology firm providing global financial institutions with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications. It also marks the launch of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for navigate legal, regulatory, technolog...

Today’s guest outlines where governments and financial regulators are going wrong in their supervision of the sector. He details where he sees potentially systemic risks mounting and he explains what banks, financial institutions and their supervisors can do now to prevent a significant blow-up from occurring on their watch. Mark Watson is a governance and risk expert whose three-decade career inc...

Today’s guest explains why global standards for financial conduct could help counter the risk of rising regulatory fragmentation - providing, as he puts it, “the glue to hold diverging rule books together.” He outlines how a robust governance framework could help financial institutions better tackle toxic workplace behaviour. He explains why he believes a central repository for authenticated data...

Today’s guest calls on regulators and policymakers to stop seeking to regulate alternative asset managers like they’re banks. She details how policymakers can best rethink the regulatory framework for the non-bank sector to benefit not only alternative asset managers but also the financial sector more broadly. And she explains how a push to harmonise the rulebooks between competing financial hub c...

Today’s guest pinpoints the “very technical” but overly complex regulatory requirements underpinning financial markets that he believes regulators could rethink to generate “big savings” for both themselves and the market participants they oversee. He discusses the lessons he would like to see industry players take on board and the changes he believes policymakers should consider in their efforts...