This week’s round up of news for the compliance, risk and legal sectors in financial services
Barron’s magazine reported on three key numbers to know about gender in the financial services. A study conducted by Morgan Stanley revealed that men and women are evenly represented in the financial services industry; however, a 2018 McKinsey study also showed that only 19% of the executive level roles are filled by women. It is predicted that if the current promotion and exit rates of women continue then it will take until 2048 for financial services companies to reach 30% women executive representation. This could however be bad for business, as research shows that companies that have a higher number of women on their executive teams were more likely to make more money and value.
The Business Times stated that UK fund managers probably won’t need to relocate after Brexit. The threat of relocation in order to manage EU investments funds after Brexit is now receding, says the head of the country’s Investment Association (IA). Steven Maijoor (ESMA’s chair) said that EU and UK regulators will sign cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding to supervise cross-border financial activity, this is seen as aiding the continuation of delegation by the IA.
Fund managers have been concerned that after Brexit they may no longer be able to manage funds listed in the EU under delegation; this concern was due to the mixed messages from last summer, although these now seem to have been clarified by ESMA.
This week, The Star reported that Singapore is going to help crypto firms set up local bank accounts. Singapore’s financial recruiter is willing to help cryptocurrency firms having problems setting up local bank accounts; some crypto firms have previously complained that they cannot open local bank accounts, or that their accounts have been closed, due to a regulatory vacuum that hinders their operations in Singapore.
However, Monetary Authority of Singapore Managing Director Rani Menon has warned that many aspects of the crypto industry remain obscure and dangerous for investors, and that his main concern when regulating the sector are to ensure consumer protection and to prevent money laundering.
