Global Glimpses

The United Kingdom’s struggle for executive-level gender diversity continues, especially in the financial services sector, where only 23 percent of board directors and only 14 percent of executive committee members are female. The Women in Finance Charter offers a roadmap for how to address this, with a stern warning: Organizations can either address this proactively, or they can wait until regulations eventually force them to. Paul Hodgson reports.

The Bank of England announced that it is consulting on an updated approach to authorising and supervising branches of global banks and insurers, prompting responses from HM Treasury and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has squashed the idea of breaking up some of the country’s largest banks in an effort to improve competition across the industry. After a thorough review, the CMA found that there’s no direct connection between free accounts and competition. Instead, the competition watchdog provided recommendations for banks, which includes providing more transparent disclosures to help clients make informed decisions. 

The Financial Conduct Authority warns that banks should rethink their anti-money laundering strategies in light of reports that financial institutions have nixed services to customers that may pose potential money-laundering risks. The agency says, “These policies and procedures must be comprehensive and proportionate to the nature, scale, and complexity of the bank’s activities.” See inside.

European banks are much improved since 2012, with greater stability and resiliency. A challenge, however, is to ensure consistent and equal rulemaking throughout EU member states. That was the prognosis offered by Danièle Nouy, chair of the supervisory board of the European Central Bank, during an address to European Parliament. “In fulfilling our supervisory role, a cornerstone of our approach is to treat all supervised banks with the same characteristics equally, in other words, to be a truly single supervisor,” she said.

The Financial Conduct Authority released “near final rules” which shows how it will apply the new accountability regimes that hold employees accountable for misconduct in U.K. branches of overseas banks. These rules further explain the FCA’s accountability reform announcement last month that zeroes in on top executives at U.K. banks. Details inside.

Dec. 17—Three of eight major U.K. banks reviewed by regulators need to bolster their capital positions, but overall the banking system’s resiliency has improved, according to results of Bank of England stress tests meant to test banks’ ability to withstand a housing shock. “The results show that the core of the banking system is significantly more resilient, that it has the strength to continue to serve the real economy even in a severe stress, and that the growing confidence in the system is merited,” Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said. Details inside.

The European Union’s Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), part of a larger post-financial crisis initiative known as the Bank Recovery and Resolution Drive (BRRD), has recently received further implementation. The advancement of SRM means that banks must have recovery plans, but EU-level authorities can intervene if they sense a bank is failing, a.k.a., do a “bail-in.” The step is just one of many under the BRRD, which is meant to ensure the stability of financial institutions and banks.