With recruitment budgets for compliance and legal hires already set for the remainder of this year and into 2026, Ian and Raoul begin the conversation by discussing their observations on hiring trends in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. As Ian tells Regulatory Ramblings host Ajay Shamdasani, hiring appears most robust in the insurance sector relative to other parts of the financial world.
A common refrain is that even with compliance, many organizations want to keep headcounts lean. Many employers seem willing to hire at the very senior levels, yet for middle management to junior hires, they are in retention mode. Simply put: if someone leaves, they are generally not replaced.
Worse still, stories of layoffs and hiring freezes at banking and financial institutions, as well as multinational corporations (MNCs), abound. For example, HSBC’s recent decision to shut its regional geopolitical risk unit caused quite a stir.
The spotlight chat concludes with a discussion of what knowledge and soft skills, other than being savvy in legal and regulatory matters, in-house counsel, and compliance, should possess. Ian noted that a greater awareness of political and economic risk was now firmly part of the remit of many in-house lawyers and compliance professionals at financial institutions and other multinational corporations.
We then proceed to our discussion with Lotte, who shares her experiences growing up in Sweden and spending time abroad in the US due to her father’s postings. She discusses what drew her to work for the IMF and ADB, as well as her commitment to developmental economics.
Having run Bank’s financial sector development projects for the past 20 years, Lotte comments on her achievements and how awed she is by the developments in fintech that she has seen during her tenure.
Acknowledging her current status as a consultant with the ADB, she discusses how it is to still work with her former colleagues, albeit in a less formal capacity, outside of the organization’s official hierarchy. As Lotte notes, being a consultant enables her to devote time to other interests.
She also elaborates on a post she authored for the ADB website, entitled “Five Ways Bamboo Can Revolutionize Finance, Housing, and Sustainability.” She noted that: “Bamboo’s fast growth and carbon capture abilities offer a sustainable solution to financial inclusion, housing affordability, and economic resilience in developing countries. Integrating modern technologies with bamboo cultivation can drive economic development while mitigating environmental impacts.”
The chat then drifted to another one of her posts entitled “Banks Without Borders: How AI, IDs, and Innovation Are Changing the Game.” Lotte wrote: “Rising compliance costs, regulatory fragmentation, and de-risking are limiting cross-border banking access, but technology-driven solutions offer a path to restore connectivity and resilience.”
Regulators often advise banks to adopt a risk-weighted approach to compliance and refrain from engaging in wholesale derisking. Yet, correspondent banking and related AML/KYC issues for certain sectors are a perennial issue, Lotte admits.
Acknowledging the problem’s entrenched nature, the sad truth is that derisking occurs when the compliance costs for banks maintaining particular correspondent banking relationships are too great. This can be due to the meager profit from serving them, resulting from small business volumes, or to the enhanced risk associated with serving a particular client or category of clients.
Lotte noted that there is often a lack of basic infrastructure in many emerging markets and that the developed world needs to provide those nations without capital, technology, and know-how the means to catch up.
Sadly, biometric safeguards are often not there in the developing world, she said. Many do not have identity cards or smartphones. In that regard, she thinks India’s Aadhaar card initiative is a triumph.
Their chat concludes with a reflection on a more recent ADB website post by Lotte entitled “Strengthen Compliance to Safeguard Pacific Banking Access.” She said: “Addressing gaps in financial compliance, upgrading digital infrastructure, and improving regulatory capacity can help Pacific countries build economic resilience and protect vital financial links.”
She added, however, that the resources required for compliance and risk management invariably affect a banking or financial institution’s bottom line. See less -
