De-Risking In Financial Services: Perspectives And Implications

The context of de-risking

In the past decade, the financial services sector across the globe has experienced increased regulatory scrutiny, particularly in the areas of financial crimes, anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) regulation.

Financial institutions have generally reacted to the new regulatory environment by bolstering their compliance and risk management divisions with increased budgets and headcounts. ¹ However, as the price and regulatory risk of banking increases, some financial institutions are assessing the cost-benefit analysis of certain activities and are opting, simply, to exit entire product lines or customer segments. This phenomenon is one aspect of what is known as "de-risking".