KPMG’s FS Regulatory Centers of Excellence Video: More than Compliance 

Simon Topping, Partner, Financial Services Regulatory Centre of Excellence, ASPAC region
Jim Low, Partner, Financial Services Regulatory Centre of Excellence, Americas
Jon Greenlee, Partner, Financial Services Regulatory Centre of Excellence, Americas
Giles Williams, Partner, Financial Services Regulatory Centre of Excellence, EMA region
Jon Pain, Partner, Financial Services Regulatory Centre of Excellence, EMA region.

Giles If we look at the regulatory landscapes emerging around the world we're beginning to see some signs of divergence.

Jim… there's just a lot of regulation that's coming through at different levels and different.

Jon G The top themes globally in terms of financial regulation really revolve around capital, liquidity…timing.

Jon P Those changes will mean that firms have to fundamentally rethink their business model.

Simon… the challenge for many of our clients is understanding what the expectations are going to be not just globally, but in all the key markets in which they operate.

The Americas

Jon G In the Americas financial regulatory reform is most prevalent in the United States where they passed the Dodd-Frank Act.

Jim …the cost of compliance with Dodd Frank might be too great for a lot of these institutions and certain types of capital are no longer qualified for tier one capital. As a results, those banks may not have the ability to tap back into the markets to replenish the capital, they might find themselves in a position where they actually have to look for a merger partner.

Jon G Then in Canada they are following the G20 agenda. But Canada was not as affected by the financial crisis in 2008, so their response has been a little bit slower.... .

Jon G …you go to Brazil and, you know, they’re still seeing how the global agenda is going to play out.

Europe, Middle East & Africa

Jon P In the Europe and Middle East and African Region then the global crisis has really affected the Eurozone far more….

Jon P …when I’m talking to clients they really question whether regulators and markets in general understand the aggregate impact of all of this change.

Jon P I think the real question is, can the markets absorb this level of pace of change, particularly in respect of capital and liquidity?

Asia pacific

Simon one of the challenges for institutions operating in the region is understanding what the requirements are going to be at the national level. With the global economy not looking too strong there may well be a move to delay implementation. Also the markets are much more fragmented, so liquidity is really at the forefront of most institutions' minds….

More than complinace…

Jon G So what clients should be thinking about now is how the global regulatory reform agenda, and whatever is taking place in their local regions, how that is ultimately going to change and impact their business...

Our teams are working on a wide range of regulatory projects at the moment, in some countries it’s around liquidity, in other countries it’s around crisis management. In other countries it’s around specifically responding to, for example, the Dodd-Frank Act.

Jon P And our three Regulatory Centres of Excellence help bring that global context.

Simon …we can bring to them experts from different regions.

Jon P ex-regulators, people who have worked in the industry, and people who have had experience of advising clients in this area….

Jim Because the impact of regulation is not just compliance, it's going to be back office operations, infrastructure, accounting and tax.

Turning complinace into opportunity

Jon P increasingly clients are seeing that regulation is one of the key strategic drivers for their business.

It’s actually now driving and shaping the very nature of their business.

Jon G In many organizations it’s at the highest level on their agenda in the C-Suite.

Simon We're working on major restructurings of global operations and compliance structures, we're helping them deal with local compliance issues,

Giles Clients need to be looking over the horizon, working out what the changes that potentially are coming.

Giles …to make sure that they've joined up all the dots there to make sure that they cut through the complexity of the changing regulatory world.