How are risk and compliance leaders navigating these changes? On September 17, our first digital event of the season, Focus on compliance & risk management, gave the floor to experts to identify the major topics that will dominate the coming months.
Andrew McDougall, Head of Geopolitical Risk for Barclays, weighed in on the current state of global events and how they are affecting markets and international financial firms. According to him, “the world has become much more complex than during the Cold War – when two distinct camps opposed each other.” Today, “for a financial institution, identifying risks, trying to mitigate them, and defining opportunities has become particularly difficult,” especially as it requires separating the “background noise” from truly strategic information.
A first panel, moderated by Anne-Lise Vandevoir (Counsel, Clifford Chance), addressed the “new compliance frontiers.” Karine Laurencin (Deputy CEO and Conducting Officer for Risk, Compliance and Legal, Amundi Luxembourg) highlighted sustainable finance, with its greenwashing risks, as well as technology: “compliance will play a key role in AI governance to ensure it is used fairly, transparently, and in line with regulation.”
For Muriel Yimgang (Chief Compliance Officer, Generali Luxembourg), the main challenge in life insurance will be “to strengthen operational resilience in a fast-changing environment.”
Sandrine Labro (Chief Compliance Officer, Brown Brothers Harriman) emphasised the speed of regulatory change: “We are supposed to be entering a period of simplification and regulatory relief, but that is not what we see on the ground. The rapid evolution of international sanctions regimes remains a challenge.”
Alexandra Merlino (Head of Regulatory Affairs, Banque Pictet Europe) added: “Current geopolitical tensions and constantly evolving sanctions regimes require staying agile and resilient by closely following regulatory developments, while also relying on associations and authorities.”
In a second panel, moderated by Michael Horvath (Partner, Regulatory Advisor, PwC Luxembourg), a group of experts discussed operational risks in an increasingly interconnected world. For Tilo Reichert (Head of Risk & Compliance, Swiss Life Asset Managers Luxembourg), controlling delegated activities – particularly in the funds industry – is a critical issue: “This has been one of the pillars of the industry’s success, but today more than ever, it must be clear that delegating an activity does not mean delegating responsibility. You therefore need proper oversight.”
Luc Neuberg (President, Association for Risk Management) shared this view: “By keeping responsibility, you also need knowledge, and you must be able to understand the risk factors and the company to whom you outsource certain activities. You can only control what you understand.”
Third-party reliance is particularly sensitive in IT, but it is now more tightly governed by DORA, the European regulation on digital resilience. It requires every company to oversee its providers and report all cyber incidents. Antoine Meyers (CISO, BGL BNP Paribas) confirmed: thanks to DORA, “authorities will quickly have access to a mass of information on cyber risk.” Yet he remains concerned about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence: “At present, those who exploit AI to attack financial entities are one step ahead of those trying to defend themselves. New products are coming to market, but for now, the game remains unbalanced.”
At the end of these discussions, one certainty emerged: in a context where geopolitical complexity, regulatory acceleration, and technological innovation constantly reshape priorities, compliance and risk management stand out more than ever as a strategic pillar, ensuring resilience, transparency, and trust within the financial sector.
Watch the full replay here.