From the Editor's Desk

Regulation and compliance remain top of the agenda for 2018

Welcome to this digital edition of Private Banker International that focuses on the latest compliance, regulation and risk management developments affecting private banks and wealth managers worldwide.

Striking the right balance between regulatory demands, rising costs and customer centricity is a major challenge for the global private banking and wealth management sector.

For example, there is the upcoming GDPR data regulation and MiFID II. And then of course, there’s Brexit to contend with.

The GDPR will be enforced starting 25 May 2018 and will apply to those collecting, storing or using the personal data of the residents of the European Union’s 28 member states.

As a report by McAfee underlines why GDPR matters. It says: “The regulation changes requirements around protecting the personally identifiable information of over 500 million people, and occupies the minds of anyone around the world concerned with data protection.”

Yet, it’s alarming that a recent survey published by SAS has revealed that only 45% of businesses actually have a structured plan for compliance, and over half (58%) still do not fully understand the full consequences of non-compliance in the face of the new regulation – a mere four per cent of annual global turnover.

Thank you for reading this digital issue. We hope you find the content insightful and useful.

I am very passionate about championing ways to grow the private banking and wealth management  industry. Your thoughts, comments and contributions are therefore very welcome. Feel free to get in touch by LinkedIn or email.

Ronan McCaughey
Editor, Private Banker International