Winning the OpRes marathon

This summer, EU regulators delivered final Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) standards and the FS sector now has a little under 100 days for a ‘great repapering’ of policies, contracts, procedures, control logs, regulatory reports and supplier databases. Billions are being spent as lawyers and consultants prepare for board room panics in September over this


Taming the DORA dragon

The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) dragon is getting ready for flight in 150 days. Leave your castle walls in disrepair over the summer holidays at your peril. This regulation has taken a far deeper, broader and more prescriptive approach to derisking the ‘end to end’ Information Communication and Technology (ICT) risk than ever


RegTech-dependent obligations are being baked into policy which presents firms an opportunity to comply with these new rules in better, faster and cheaper ways. Cloud, data and AI technology are moving fast and offer opportunities for RegTech innovation.


RegTech-dependent obligations are being baked into policy which presents firms an opportunity to comply with these new rules in better, faster and cheaper ways. Cloud, data and AI technology are moving fast and offer opportunities for RegTech innovation.


Accountability for GenAI

Generative AI (GenAI) continues to evolve quickly and shows great promise for financial institutions. But here’s the catch: senior management regimes, like SM&CR and SEAR, hold ‘Senior Executives’ accountable for compliance, not machines. So, how do SMFs/SEFs tick all the boxes which (in the EU) are written into the new EU AI Act or (in


We are pleased to announce the first wave of confirmed firms, regulators and trade associations are participating in JWG’s 8th annual RegTech conference, ‘Getting real about RegTech 2024. Don’t miss this opportunity to join this premier global event which articulates the key challenges which RegTech can help overcome in 2024. Register here RegTech year 8 Regulators


Billions will be spent as ‘how’ operations are conducted is pulled into scope for all FS actors. In this conference, leading TradFi and DeFi SMEs will articulate the key challenges of connecting fast moving 2024 regulatory demands to better, faster, cheaper and safer RegTech that can align shareholder, customer, firm and regulatory interests.


New JWG research  JWG, the trusted financial services regulatory intelligence company, has announced the publication of a ground-breaking research paper ‘Embedded Compliance Unlocked: Leverage AI-enabled compliance tooling now to be ready for 2025.’ With the relentless demand for improved compliance and cost/income ratios, financial institutions of all sizes are experiencing pressure to upgrade their approaches.


New JWG research  JWG, the trusted financial services regulatory intelligence company, has announced the publication of a ground-breaking research paper ‘Embedded Compliance Unlocked: Leverage AI-enabled compliance tooling now to be ready for 2025.’ With the relentless demand for improved compliance and cost/income ratios, financial institutions of all sizes are experiencing pressure to upgrade their approaches.


JWG’s eighth annual conference will be the premier, global event for setting the 2024 RegTech agenda on 7 February in London. Join us to help shape the debate today. Register for 7 February 2024  About the JWG RegTech agenda Long recognised as the first, biggest and most professional public/private sector agenda debate, JWG is continuing


In response to mounting global concerns about generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), legislators and stakeholders have been listening hard to technologists while finalizing tough new rules for digital non-financial risk. Will AI be a wake-up call for firms to define ‘what good looks like’ for infrastructure standards before massive fines start to land? To avoid a


Compliance and chatGPT

RegTech promises to turn policy documents to rule sets that describe what good looks like in the operational language of the systems used by the business. AI can play a role in applying controls, but it needs to be carefully supervised so that the humans are in the loop and overseeing the code. Experts at


JWG RegTech Beacon 29 published

2023 RegTech Beacon – Guiding your way through regulatory storms  We are delighted to publish the 29th issue of JWG’s RegTech Beacon which now serves as our yearbook and recaps 2022 accomplishments as well as providing an outlook of what lies ahead. Our RegTech outlook is one of collaboration between the front office and its supporting


Trading desks face unprecedented levels of regulatory change from the mechanics of the markets and how they monitor them, to how they interact with customers, the way they de-risk their technology suppliers and provide information to regulators. This article summarises the critical changes and lays out the context for our 22 March virtual trading seminar.


Join us to set the 2023 RegTech agenda

An all-star cast of 40+ speakers will gather virtually on 9th & 10th November 2022 to set the 2023 RegTech agenda at JWG’s 7th annual premier RegTech conference. Markets have been rocked by turbulence unseen in over a decade and the regulatory agenda has shifted quickly. JWG research has defined 10 panels and worked with the industry to


New policy efforts in by Australian, US, UK, EU and International rule setters will widen the scope of regulatory oversight for financial institutions to include ‘how’ the business runs. As we have seen with US Federal reserve consultation released this week, boards are on the hook for a holistic approach to ensuring their digital infrastructure


Crypto market capitalization has receded by nearly 75% as $2 trillion were wiped off the market[1] leaving many crypto investors to reflect on the words Warren Buffet: “You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out”. Rulemaking continued to push the digital-asset agenda forward over the summer with over 3,000 pages published


Technology contracts in the age of DORA

New UK and EU regulations are forcing banks to demand new controls from their suppliers. Not only do they now need a comprehensive view of how each supplier fits in, but they also need to know how to swap them out. Senior managers across the bank should be working to establish plans now for these


Think-tank JWG urges Financial Services firms to collaborate with suppliers to close infrastructure gaps as fines loom London, UK – 13 September, 2022 – JWG, the trusted financial services regulatory intelligence company, has announced the publication of a ground-breaking research paper ‘Managing Digital Infrastructure Risk: a collaborative path to financial services safety’. New regulation will fundamentally


JWG, the trusted financial services regulatory intelligence company, has announced the publication of a ground-breaking research paper ‘Managing Digital Infrastructure Risk: a collaborative path to financial services safety’. New regulation will fundamentally change the landscape for the biggest tech companies–particularly cloud providers. By 2025, overlapping requirements to mitigate operational resilience threats (UK PS6/21,DORA); control third


US Order: Get your RegTech ready

Yesterday, President Biden fired the starting gun for the US regulators’ race to control Digital Assets. Crypto enthusiasts have been looking for regulators to take firm positions on whether digital assets race on Formula 1, NASCAR, or Motocross tracks. Regardless, it will be RegTech that is waving the chequered flags very soon. Join an all-star


Surveillance RegTech 2022

The great work-from-home experiment forced traders from the office and digital surveillance teams into overdrive. RegTech can provide a path forward through serious legal obstacles that stand in the way of effective oversight. However, good compliance is not just about the tech and we need collaborative action to make surveillance RegTech fit for purpose. The


Digital Asset RegTech – OnDemand

This year  we will be producing 3 seminars which will facilitate regulator, firm and supplier collaboration and to develop and encourage interoperability between TradeFi and digital waves.  We are inviting Digital Asset, Crypto and TradFi market participants to join our 2022 Digital Finance Programme which will explore our global research and the role of Digital


2022 RegTech Outlook

New digital rails are being laid next to traditional finance (TradFi) which puts RegTech in the critical role of integrating markets and defining safety standards. In our inaugural episode of RegCast here we lay out the key themes which peek over the horizon as JWG enters its second decade of RegTech. RegTech meets Digital Finance


JWG RegTech Beacon 28 published

RegTech Beacon – Guiding your way through global regulatory storms. We are delighted to publish the 28th issue of JWG’s RegTech Beacon which now serves as our yearbook that recaps 2021 accomplishments and provides an outlook of what lies ahead. Our focus this year is defining the next steps required for a truly digital financial infrastructure. 


RegTech Beacon – Guiding your way through global regulatory storms. We are delighted to publish the 28th issue of JWG’s RegTech Beacon which now serves as our yearbook that recaps 2021 accomplishments and provides an outlook of what lies ahead. Our focus this year is defining the next steps required for a truly digital financial infrastructure. 


2022 RegTech agenda reloaded

1,000 visits to the JWG Annual Conference site are keeping the conversation alive. There is still time to listen to the all-star debate, participate in the debates and help set the 2022 RegTech agenda. 2021 Annual conference On the 16th & 17th November, JWG held its 6th annual and its 1st virtual global conference, where


The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-convened Artificial Intelligence Public-Private Forum (AIPPF) this month discussed potential accountability and governance frameworks that could form future guidance for the use of AI in financial services. Senior management accountability as well as the creation of a chief AI officer role were contemplated as oversight options,


New European Union rules governing artificial intelligence (AI) will put compliance obligations on automated facial recognition (AFR) used in some regtech applications, particularly client risk screening. UK data privacy and biometrics regulators are also seeking to improve employee monitoring and surveillance camera operation guidance to clarify compliance obligations under local data privacy laws. These efforts,


JWG Q421 research reveals major regulatory battles for information on third parties in 2022, which has massive implications for FS suppliers. Combined with Cloud, AI and other new controls, knowing your supply chain just became a lot more critical and complicated.   Without standard supply chain messages, regulators, regulated firms and their suppliers run the


Technology, data and infrastructure provision to banks now puts 3rd parties on the critical path for systemic oversight. Knowing your supply chain just became a lot more critical and complicated. There is an opportunity to take the pain away with a more joined up approach that requires senior engagement, trust and ‘safe space’


 We are delighted to reveal more details for our annual conference. With so much happening in this space – make sure that you know what risks are coming and how to tackle them! See details below and sign up now to hear a great cast of regulators, academia, firms and suppliers discussing the next generation


RegTech for Quants – JWG’s 16/17 November conference computes!

In Partnership with:

We really enjoyed speaking to the leadership of the Quantitative Finance Community in advance of our 6th annual conference in November. We covered a lot of ground: Key RegTech / SupTech issues for quantitative finance professionals How can quants contribute to the RegTech discussion How data management and agility have influenced the regulators The latest


A decade ago, JWG worked with Banking Technology to produce the world’s first RegTech magazine for our sector. We are now delighted to be hosting the 6th annual RegTech / SupTech  Conference on 16 & 17 November 2021 which promises to be one of the most exciting, digital events of the season. Register Here Today Agenda


Following a great discussion about the major surveillance AI control gaps highlighted by JWG’s July research  the FATF and BIS have both published complementary AI policy papers.   With penalties of up to 6% of annual revenue 500 working days away, we have decided to build RegTech AI surveillance use cases to: Tease out the


Why attend for Sponsors Why attend for Delegates Register Now   For our sixth annual RegTech conference we are bringing our global network of regulators, trade associations, academia, firms and leading technologists together to define the top challenges facing both private and public sector and debating potential strategies to overcome them. Our global regulatory debate


Although no international guidelines on AI exist, the EU is way ahead in policy formulation with a very clear view of what good looks like. JWG research has revealed major control gaps to other jurisdictions and draconian penalties for those that don’t comply in 2023. In preparation, we will be developing detailed business use cases


Presentation from SIG meeting on 27 July to review updates to the trade surveillance regulatory agenda, review global artificial intelligence gaps and agree next steps.


Following our discussion of several global accountability regimes and forthcoming culture audits we are turning our attention back to AI. This is a very noisy space with Germany, UK, Japan and the US all mandating new controls in advance of MiFID III update which could raise the algo trading bar even higher.   In this


UK banks’ annual reports show an emerging understanding of operational resilience that emphasises business continuity planning and conflates pandemic performance with high operational resilience. Banks have asked regulators for more guidance on what they want operational resilience work to look like. That safe harbour will not be forthcoming, and firms need to work on evolving


It has been a very busy 2021 and it is a very noisy financial services regulatory marketplace. JWG is pleased to be helping to contextualise the strategic issues in play with a new podcast series called RegCast which you can access here.   So what is RegCast? RegCast is an industry spotlight on the business


Gentrifying The Wild West

Can suptech take DeFi to the next level? As technology-driven decentralised finance (or DeFi) grows in popularity and market value, it appears that a battle is brewing between DeFi protocols and regulators. But can technological tools in the hands of regulators head this off at the pass? A reasoned, transitional approach to compliance, along with


JWG urges sector to address systemic technology risk blind spot

In Partnership with:

JWG is proud to announce the publication of a ground-breaking research report ‘Risk control for a digitized financial sector.’    The analysis identifies a large systemic technology risk blind spot which regulators must take the lead in addressing. JWG urges Financial Services regulators and firms to collaborate with technology firms on new RegTech standards in advance of cloud and data crises.    The paper, which incorporates findings from JWG’s RegTech 2.0 conference and dozens of discussions with regulators, regulated and academia, builds on 10 years


How a firm manages data is now intrinsic to its value, yet the FS risk management framework provides no way to account for IT obsolescence, cloud concentration and data risks on the balance sheet. An explosion of advanced computing capability facilitated by cloud technology has provided massive benefits to both regulated financial institutions and their


FS Compliance officers have been hit with an unprecedented deluge of 3,021 COVID-19 alerts 2 months into the pandemic, which JWG forecasts to be a total of 15,695 documents by year end.   Regulators expect firms to be able to navigate these difficult circumstances while delivering fair outcomes for customers and complying with existing rules. That’s one of the clear messages in these 3,000 plus regulatory updates.  Better RegTech tooling is


You may have noticed that we snuck out a complete refresh of our websites this week. The revamped pages bring our thought leadership and technology offerings together for the first time. After 1,000,000+ page views from 190 countries since 2012, this was a big migration. Why do it now? Well, as readers of these pages


JWG are pleased to announce a partnership with BMO Capital Markets (BMO) where it will provide BMO access to its AI-powered, natural-language processing change management system — RegDelta. Ten years after the financial crisis, the financial services industry continues to face a changing and complex landscape, and this is particularly true for capital markets. RegDelta™


On 23rd April, the Bank of England took over the administration of the benchmark rate known as SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average), and issued a series of reforms to the well-established benchmark as part of its implementation as a replacement to LIBOR. As a consequence of the LIBOR scandal in 2012, a Bank of England


The GDPR broadens and deepens the rules between data controllers and data processors for processing of personal data and for the first time, directly enforceable obligations are imposed on processors as well as controllers. The GDPR also requires that controllers and processors enter into written contracts (“C2P Clauses”). Practical Law recently published its data processing


This piece looks ahead to what we might expect as IT law developments in 2018. Unusually as we go into a new year, the main headlines of what IT lawyers can expect in 2018 are signposted at the outset: new financial services laws in January, the GDPR in May and looking ahead to Brexit in


A key focus of our RegTech Capital Markets conference this year was ‘the future of rule books and policy controls’. To discuss this topic, we assembled a panel of experts including Paul North, Head of Product Management EMEA at BNY Mellon, Alan Blanchard, Senior Associate and Handbook Publisher at the FCA, Mark Sweeting, Head of Strategic Change, Basel Measurement


GDPR and data security by design

In exactly one year, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will apply across the European Union, yet firms are struggling to prepare for new data security obligations due to the sheer quantity of regulations due to be enforced in 2018. With the current date of MiFID II being 3 January 2018 and PSD2 due 10


Culture, conduct and how RegTech can help

Improving the culture and codes of conduct within financial services firms has been a longstanding issue of contention since the financial crisis.  Combatting negative behaviours and inefficient controls has proven difficult to regulate and tackle head on. In 2013, the FSB officially acknowledged business conduct as a new category of business risk and now, in


By January 2018, European legislation will have significantly changed the financial services sector. The sheer volume of transactions, products and firms affected by new regulation means that we can say goodbye to the trading landscape we currently know. In particular, new rules under MiFID II will impact how and where market participants execute trades. All


The first signs of rule automation

In November, the Financial Conduct Authority issued a call for input on facilitating the development and adoption of RegTech, or the use of technology to solve critical problems in compliance.  JWG argued that new and proven tools can be employed but, to do so, the industry must first collaborate in a ‘RegTech commons’ to set


With 23 June just around the corner and a vote deciding the future of the UK in the EU on the horizon, we at JWG have issued a ground-breaking report today – Brexit: changing out the engine of finance. The report finds significant technical and leadership challenges ahead in the event of a decision to


An EY report released this week in conjunction with the UK Treasury, declared the UK to be the highest ranking FinTech sector in the world with a market size of £6.6 billion.  The authors predominantly attributed this to the UK’s accommodative regulatory regime for startups and the associated disruptive technologies they bring to market. We


The devil is in the definitions

JWG analysis. In an article earlier this week, we highlighted some of the key challenges for firms engaged in HFT activities under MiFID II.  In this piece, we will focus in more detail on one particular area of change under MiFID II, namely algorithmic trading and the implications of regulators rewriting the dictionary for it. 


Part 2: HFT firms on trial

JWG analysis. In part 1, we focused on the consultation paper published by the FCA on 7 July, CP 15/22, in which the UK’s financial regulator proposed that managers responsible for algorithmic trading should also be covered under the new Senior Managers and Certification Regime.  But, as many readers will know, it is not only


By Sam Tyfield and JWG. It has been widely rumoured that the level 2 MiFID II will define the high frequency algorithmic trading technique (HFATT) as one which has a high message intraday rate in which there is a minimum of four messages being sent  per second for all instruments traded on a trading venue. 


JWG analysis. Given the 5 year latency between flash crash and recent arrest, John Bates wondered whether the regulators were riding bicycles to try and catch up with the sporty cars driven by the Flash Boys, the high-frequency traders. Although HFT represents a large percentage of trading volume, what ‘it’ is and how it can


Are EU algo rules converging?

By Sam Tyfield and JWG. Here algo again … Yesterday, ESMA published a notice stating that supervision of automated trading across the EU (in compliance with the ESMA guidelines from 2012) was converging.  We found that interesting – a closer look at the BaFin’s rules versus those MiFID II/R creates would appear to show less


JWG analysis. The chief of the CFTC pronounced from Japan this week that implementing regulatory reform means overcoming “legal traditions, regulatory philosophies, political processes, and market concerns”.  Looking at the global trading regulatory climate that surrounds MiFID II, we couldn’t agree more. Those struggling to digest the MiFID II texts and get to Paris for


Trade reporting fines on the horizon

By Jon Watkins, The TRADE. Regulators are set to clamp down on widespread trade reporting breaches across Europe as a six-month grace period since the rules were introduced expires, according to industry sources. Issues surrounding unique trade identifiers (UTIs), legal entity identifiers (LEIs) and the complexity of the 85 fields required by regulators have plagued


JWG analysis. We learnt something this month.  The reason Europe calls it a regulatory ‘hearing’ is that it is an opportunity to hear views from both regulators and the market.  Of course, that’s just part of the experience as many other senses are triggered when 400 people are locked in a basement for 2 days,


JWG analysis. The desire for tighter controls on algorithmic trading is growing globally.  Trading rules in the major financial centres will quickly set new minimum thresholds. As described in our previous piece on how algos are defined and controlled, Europe is again leading the pack and would appear to have serious intent to change the


JWG analysis. Last month (20 June), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued a new Supervisory Policy Manual (SPM) on the topic of recovery planning (Module RE-1: Recovery Planning) following a consultation with Hong Kong’s two industry associations. This follows the Financial Stability Board’s push to implement standards in the area of recovery and resolutions plans


JWG analysis. Regulators across the globe appear divided on the question of whether tighter control of algorithmic trading is necessary. The Australians are pretty laid back about it, the Germans are ahead of the game, whilst political debate rages in the US.  Regardless, while the value of algo trading to global markets is generally considered


JWG analysis. This month the Japanese Financial Services Agency published their latest FAQ on the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA). The current version of FIEA was approved and enacted in June 2006.  It aims to: make Japanese financial and capital markets more adaptive to environmental change; promote investor protection and improve competition; ensure that


JWG analysis. The continent was rocked by far more than parliamentary elections on 22 May. Early reports from major financial centres confirm the impact from the 844 pages of text released by ESMA on MiFID II / MIFID to be about a 9 on the Richter scale – so high that ESMA’s website gave up


JWG analysis. Our jaws hit the floor when it was revealed at our CDMG meeting last week that ESMA’s MiFID II technical standards are expected to be in excess of 800 pages with more than 800 questions to be answered by August 2014. And this is just the start.  ESMA’s 2014 work plan has over


Algo flagging – the future

By Sam Tyfield, Vedder Price. Algo flagging is currently only the concern of direct members of German venues.  But it’s going to have a much broader application under MiFID / MiFIR and become of concern to the buy-side too. Yesterday, the good Doctor Voigt of Fidessa published a blog about algo flagging.  It is well worth


MiFID II to calm the US HFT storm?

JWG analysis. While the US HFT debate rages and the FBI launches its investigations, Europe is quietly preparing to set a hard-hitting set of new rules for technical standards. When ESMA begins its consultation around MiFID II / MiFIR tech standards this summer, market participants will need to have their ducks in a row and


JWG analysis. Earlier this month, New York Attorney General (NYAG), Eric Schneiderman, set out his stall with a scathing attack on high frequency trading firms and their practices.  Describing HFT firms as ‘parasitic’ and comparing their strategies to “Insider Trading 2 .0”, the NYAG’s statement would have been music to the ears of financial luddites


JWG analysis. When the requirement brought about by the German high frequency trading act to tag algorithms comes into force in April of this year, market participants may well feel hamstrung by the complexity of the regime.  And while the regulatory goal of improving market surveillance and reducing systemic risk may be valid, some might


MiFID II: now under starter’s orders

JWG analysis. The first 700 of 18,000 pages of MiFID II texts have now been published, a little more than a month after the European Commission announced agreement in the trilogue process, but this milestone foreshadows a confused standards landscape that will stretch forward to implementation of the regulations and directives in 2016. For those


The new legislative package contains some surprises for those engaged in ‘risky’ trading MiFID II is almost upon us.  This month, the Council of the EU agreed their general approach, meaning that the draft of MiFID II/MiFIR is free to advance to the European Parliament.  If all goes according to the current plan, the new


RRPs: Operational deluge coming soon for FMIs

With the world’s most systemic banks having made it through the first round of invasive living wills in 2012, regulators now have their sights on the Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI). Central Counterparties (CCPs), payments systems and exchanges will have a lot to do in 2013 and could do well to heed some lessons from their


The UK’s Foresight Commission report on HFT has finally heard the industry’s call for clear, shared data standards across the financial system. However, it remains to be seen whether Europe – or the world – has the stomach to realise this vision. After a series of dramatic computer trading glitches across the globe, most recently


HFT: On the brink of definitive new controls?

Thanks to technological hiccup after technological hiccup, High Frequency Trading (HFT) remains a permanent fixture in the financial press. With each blip, regulators and politicians promise to regulate HFT, but how they are going to put effective controls in place is still an open question. Despite the noise, the issues with HFT remain the same.