01 July 2010 News

 

Work still to be done to rebuild trust, says Citi's Isaac

The financial industry still has a lot of work to do to recover its standing with regulators, said Tom Isaac, managing director financial institutions at Citi Global Transaction Services. Speaking to Daily News at Sibos, Isaac said financial institutions would not be given the benefit of the doubt by regulators and would therefore have to work hard to get their points across and ensure regulation is effective and works for the greater economy.

Isaac was commenting on the three themes of this year's Sibos: regulation, rebuilding trust and recovery. He said while regulatory initiatives such as the Payment Services Directive, Mifid, Target2Securities and the current debate over central counterparty interoperability had already affected transactional services, "we have only just started". As the G20 focused on regulation, it was likely there would be further major change ahead.

A focus on providing robust risk systems that enable end investors and corporations to know where their money is and the risk they are taking will help to rebuild trust, he said. Again the industry has a lot to do here.

On the question of recovery, Isaac said the industry had done well in identifying the role innovation has to play in driving recovery. Financial institutions were looking at technology and how it can ensure money is moved effectively to facilitate the global economy.

To view the full interview, visit the videos section on http://www.dailynewssibos.com/