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Financial services - risk and regulation articles

Read more financial services - risk and regulation articles.
Displaying 1-50 of 57 results
Exclusive ICAEW Financial Services Faculty roundtable regulatory report
  • Report
  • 25 Nov 2025
On 22 September 2025, the ICAEW Financial Services Faculty hosted a Roundtable of its members to seek their views on a selection of the topical issues from two papers affecting UK financial services. Specifically, the Roundtable was asked for its views across three themes.
Exclusive International standards: an inherent tendency to be over-prescriptive?
  • Article
  • 31 Oct 2025
The complexity of the financial system leads to complex regulatory standards. The process of developing international standards might, however, have an inherent tendency towards over prescription, leading to unnecessarily lengthy and overly complex requirements. Many people would certainly agree!
Exclusive To ring-fence or not to ring-fence retail banking?
  • Article
  • 30 Oct 2025
There have been loud calls for the UK’s ring-fencing policy to be significantly reformed or dropped to help boost UK lending and growth. There have been equally strong voices defending ring-fencing as necessary to preserve UK financial stability and that it enables lower funding costs for UK borrowers.
Supreme Court motor finance ruling: six key questions for financial services
  • Article
  • 12 Sep 2025
A recent Supreme Court decision has implications for payouts from banks and lenders to consumers with complaints over car finance.
Exclusive Vulnerabilities in non-bank financial intermediation
  • Article
  • 14 Aug 2025
Many entities engaged in non-bank financial intermediation perform bank like functions and are exposed to many of the same vulnerabilities and risks as banks – yet some are subject to looser regulatory oversight.
Exclusive Liquidity, the US “Held to Maturity” (HTM) classification and High-Quality Liquid Assets
  • Article
  • 12 Aug 2025
Banks hold liquid assets to meet their short-term obligations, including to manage through market disruption or other stress events.
Exclusive Quantum risk mitigation roadmap
  • Article
  • 10 Aug 2025
The quantum threat is not a distant concern, it is a present strategic imperative that requires systematic preparation.
Exclusive How should we approach regulatory reform in financial services?
  • Article
  • 29 May 2025
Each week we continue to hear about a new proposal by government or regulators to review rules and standards and in some case introduce new ones with the objective of making the UK more competitive in its desire for economic growth.
Exclusive Resilience of banking technology: the bad, the good and the future
  • Article
  • 28 May 2025
Barclays’ customers recently suffered the inconvenience that comes with digital banking, when the technology fails. And for which the bank will pay out £12.5m in compensation.
Exclusive The new 'Failure to Prevent Fraud' offence: A compliance and accounting perspective
  • Article
  • 14 Mar 2025
Luke Firmin - UK Head of Financial Crime and James Fox - Forensics Associate Director at Forvis Mazars, explore the UK government guidance and provide insights into the implications for organisations and auditors.
Exclusive Issues with Building Society audits
  • Article
  • 13 Mar 2025
The BSA has called for the “vast majority of building societies to be removed from the scope of Public Interest Entities audits1” due to excessive audit costs. More may be needed.
Chart of the week: ECB balance sheet
  • Article
  • 07 Mar 2025
Our chart this week takes a look at the balance sheet of the European Central Bank, the central bank for the Eurozone.
Exclusive Crypto custody shake-up: How SEC & FASB are rewriting the rulebook for US banks
  • Article
  • 04 Mar 2025
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently updated its guidance on the accounting treatment of crypto-assets held by entities for their platform users. This update involves the rescission of Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121 and the introduction of SAB No. 122.
The evolving landscape of fraud protection and payments
  • Article
  • 20 Feb 2025
New developments to combat fraud across the financial services industry are likely to be good news for consumers, but the impact on business and banks could be significant. ICAEW’s Andrew Boardman explains.
Exclusive HMT Growth Strategy: Our response to the call for evidence
  • Article
  • 23 Jan 2025
In November last year, HM Treasury (HMT) launched a Call for Evidence on the Growth Strategy for Financial Services. Given that the financial services sector accounts for 10% of the UK’s economy, it is clear why the government sees this industry as a key driver of growth.
Exclusive The fight against APP scams: How new measures protect consumers
  • Article
  • 23 Jan 2025
What is an APP scam? Why do consumers need to be protected?
Exclusive ICAEW’s response to the FCA’s Safeguarding Consultation
  • Article
  • 21 Jan 2025
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) recently provided their feedback to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regarding proposed changes to the safeguarding regime for payments and e-money firms. The consultation, which concluded on December 17, 2024, aimed to gather insights and opinions on the potential impacts of these regulatory adjustments.
Exclusive Sustainability Reporting in Financial Services: A Progress Report
  • Article
  • 17 Jan 2025
Sustainability reporting is rapidly evolving as a critical component of corporate accountability and transparency, particularly in the financial services sector.
Banks: step up for charities, CAF Bank chief urges
  • Article
  • 28 Nov 2024
From difficulties opening accounts to having them closed unexpectedly, the charity sector’s experience of banking continues to fall short. CAF Bank CEO and ICAEW member Alison Taylor explains why there’s more than reputation at stake.
Exclusive Accounting for Dynamic Risk Management: challenges for insurers
  • Article
  • 07 Nov 2024
It seems likely that the IASB’s current proposals for accounting for dynamic risk management (DRM) will not help insurers better present their risk management approaches. Standard setters and the industry will need to undertake further thinking to develop a suitable accounting framework for DRM within insurers.
How to access free business banking dispute resolution support
  • Article
  • 14 Oct 2024
Accountancy firms play a unique role in supporting and advising SME clients about resolving banking issues – and some accountancy businesses may have banking issues of their own. Fortunately, help is at hand.
The FCA’s Safeguarding consultation explained
  • Article
  • 27 Sep 2024
The FCA has this week released its long-awaited consultation on Safeguarding. ICAEW’s Polly Tsang walks through some of the key proposals contained within it.
Going concern lessons from Silicon Valley Bank
  • Article
  • 17 Sep 2024
Reuben Wales examines some of the key tenets of proposed guidance on accounting and reporting on going concern through the lens of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.
FRC thematic reviews: offsetting ‘not meeting standards’
  • Article
  • 13 Sep 2024
The regulator’s latest thematic reviews look at first time adoption of IFRS 17 and common errors in the reporting of offsetting.
Outages and the future of systemic risk
  • Article
  • 19 Aug 2024
The Microsoft Azure outage showed the far-reaching consequences of a single point of failure in cloud infrastructure. For the financial services sector, it highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to managing systemic risk.
National Wealth Fund to unlock green and growth investment
  • Article
  • 15 Jul 2024
Fund will bring together UK Infrastructure Bank and the British Business Bank to unlock billions of pounds of investment in the UK’s green and growth industries, government says.
Exclusive Solvent exit planning for UK banks and insurers
  • Article
  • 15 Jul 2024
The UK already has a robust resolution regime for banking institutions, which was first implemented in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. Focus has historically been on the resolvability and exit strategies of the largest ‘too-big-to-fail' banks.
British Business Bank launches Recovery Loan Scheme successor
  • Article
  • 12 Jul 2024
Running until 31 March 2026, the new Growth Guarantee Scheme aims to support small businesses by offering loans of up to £2m, with 70% government-backed guarantees.
Exclusive Attesting time for financial services
  • Article
  • 01 Jul 2024
ICAEW’s Financial Services Faculty highlights the potential implications of the new Corporate Governance Code attestation requirement on banks and insurers.
Exclusive FCA Lessons from the first year of IFPR Implementation
  • Article
  • 14 Mar 2024
In November 2023, the FCA issued a concluding report covering. We look at the key issues affecting our members.
Exclusive Insurance supervisory priorities and risks
  • Article
  • 23 Feb 2024
The PRA has published a letter setting out its 2024 supervisory priorities for insurers.
Exclusive 2024 prudential banking supervisory priorities
  • Article
  • 23 Feb 2024
The PRA has published letters setting out its 2024 supervisory priorities for UK deposit takers and international banks.
Consultation on loss relief changes for building societies
  • Article
  • 09 Feb 2024
The government is consulting on draft secondary legislation that applies to transfers of business by building societies.
Exclusive Data sharing as a policy intervention
  • Article
  • 21 Nov 2023
The recent and spectacular advances made in generative artificial intelligence have been possible because of shared data.
Exclusive Challenges with accounting for financed emissions
  • Article
  • 22 Sep 2023
In recent years, the issue of "financed emissions" has become a crucial aspect of the climate change discussion, highlighting the significant role that financial institutions play in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
ICAEW responds to proposals for digital pound
  • Article
  • 04 Sep 2023
Following Bank of England and HM Treasury’s consultation on proposals for a retail central bank digital currency, or digital pound, Reuben Wales, ICAEW’s Head of Financial Services, outlines ICAEW’s key recommendations.
New FCA rules require fair value for financial services
  • Article
  • 01 Aug 2023
New Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules for financial services firms have come into force setting a higher standard of consumer care. Reuben Wales, ICAEW’s Head of Financial Services, examines what firms will need to consider to ensure their products are offering fair value.
Exclusive Cryptoassets and making the case for regulation
  • Article
  • 20 Jun 2023
Regulating new forms of technology is never easy. If they are being developed within financial services, the ask is even greater.
How the British Business Bank puts purpose first
  • Article
  • 26 May 2023
New CEO Louis Taylor explains how the British Business Bank is increasing the focus on delivering growth to the UK.
Access to finance: alternatives to high street banks
  • Article
  • 25 May 2023
Traditional banks’ enthusiasm for business lending may be muted, but at a time when the UK economy is hungry for growth, there are still other finance options for companies to explore.
Digital currencies: to programme or not to programme?
  • Article
  • 17 May 2023
As cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology continue to make waves in the financial services sector, central banks have begun to explore the idea of digital currencies.
Why an insurance crisis isn’t on the cards
  • Article
  • 15 May 2023
Banks and insurers are both balance sheet businesses. But different business models and risks explain why insurers are less likely than banks to be affected by recent economic events.
Exclusive SMCR reform: proposals for change in challenging times
  • Article
  • 10 May 2023
The government is seeking to review the SMCR as part of its Edinburgh reforms, but how do reforms looks set to pan out and how will potential changes help the government meet its objectives of supercharging the UK’s financial services sector?
After SVB is there still such a thing as a non-systemic bank?
  • Article
  • 06 Apr 2023
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has raised some interesting questions as to the future of regulating banks. Are there lessons to be learned from the US as the Prudential Regulation Authority consults on its “Strong and Simple” regime?
Chart of the week: Silicon Valley Bank
  • Article
  • 30 Mar 2023
Our chart this week examines the late lamented Silicon Valley Bank and how its outsized investment in securities made it particularly vulnerable to a bank run.
What does accounting have to do with a banking crisis?
  • Article
  • 27 Mar 2023
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has raised questions about financial reporting across the banking sector, and in particular the amortisation of cost approach to accounting for long dated bonds.
Exclusive Ring-fencing rules up for debate
  • Article
  • 16 Mar 2023
The relaxation of prudential measures as memories of the financial crisis fade or a further step towards a comprehensive, coherent and robust prudential regime? Either way potentially more change and uncertainty for the banking industry.
Exclusive Banks interest margins have increased but for how much longer?
  • Article
  • 16 Mar 2023
It is the oldest complaint about banks, and it is one that is being heard again. The charge is that, in a period of rising official interest rates, banks are quick to increase lending rates but tardy in raising deposit rates. Savers who looked forward to the end of more than a decade of paltry returns have had to be ultra patient.
What are the lessons learned from SVB’s collapse?
  • Article
  • 15 Mar 2023
Reuben Wales, ICAEW’s Head of Financial Services, explains how recent interest rate rises played their role in Silicon Valley Bank’s demise.
Treasury and Bank of England release digital pound proposals
  • Article
  • 16 Feb 2023
A consultation examines the assessment case for a central bank digital currency, which could have profound implications for consumers, businesses, banks and payment providers within the UK.
Displaying 1-50 of 57 results