The annual Financial Services Leadership Summit (FSLS) took place across a series of video discussions Tuesday, November 10, 2020 through Thursday, November 12, 2020. The FSLS brought together directors and senior executives from among the largest banks and insurers globally with regulators and other stakeholders and subject matter experts for discussions on the forces shaping the sector and the implications for financial institution leadership and governance.

• Navigating the increasingly important and complex ESG agenda. The ESG agenda has emerged from 2020 as more important and more complex than ever, presenting leaders of large financial institutions with both difficult challenges and significant opportunities. Banking and Insurance directors and executives were joined by Sandra Boss, Global Head of Investment Stewardship at BlackRock, as well as regulators and other key stakeholders.

• Technology is driving competitive advantage in financial services. Financial institution directors and executives, regulators, investors, and EY experts discussed how financial institutions have adapted to the pandemic and the options for firms as they accelerate broader systems upgrades to support new approaches. They also discussed the implications that the path forward has for talent and culture needs.
  

• Global financial services policy after the pandemic. At the summit, participants were joined for a discussion on policy and politics by Martin Chorzempa, research fellow at the Peterson Institute; Clay Lowery, executive vice president of research and policy at the Institute of International Finance; and John Liver and Marc Saidenberg, EY’s Global Financial Services Regulatory Network co-leaders.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges and risks during a time of swift change on many fronts. In September 2020, audit chairs from North America and Europe met in a virtual Audit Committee Leadership Summit (ACLS) to consider many of these changes: in risk management, technological innovation, and matters of internal and external audit. Key sessions addressed the following issues:

• The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact are once again raising questions about the state of enterprise risk management in large global companies. Members were joined by Amy Brachio, global business consulting leader at EY, and Panu Haapaniemi, director of risk management at UPM-Kymmene, to discuss potential lessons from the pandemic. Read more.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has driven rapid innovation as businesses race to adapt to a difficult environment. Members discussed this acceleration and the related strategy and risk implications with Netta Nyholm, EMEIA enterprise risk and risk markets leader at EY; Kate Smaje, global leader at McKinsey Digital; and David Gledhill, recently group chief information officer and head of group technology and operations at DBS. Read more.

• Internal audit departments are evolving with changing business practices. Technology plays a major role in those changes. Members discussed the outlook for internal audit processes, deployment, and technology with Rui Bastos, chief information officer and chief digital officer for Reliance Industries Hydrocarbons and head of group audit and risk management for the Reliance Group; Dr. Leo Mackay, senior vice president, ethics and enterprise assurance for Lockheed Martin; Amy Brachio, EY partner and the firm’s global business consulting leader; and Stefan Heissner, EY EMEIA forensics and integrity services leader. Read more.

On August 26^th, 2020, fintech CEOs and other executives, bank executives and directors, and other industry participants convened virtually for the third Banking and Fintech Leadership Forum hosted by Tapestry Networks and LendIt Fintech. Participants discussed the how the pandemic has accelerated a shakeout in the industry, the state of technology transformation in banking, and where and how collaboration among fintechs and banks might evolve, including the relative benefits of “vendor” and “partner” relationships. Key themes that emerged include:

·         The competitive landscape continues to evolve

·         Bank and fintech partnerships remain attractive, but both parties are more selective

·         Fintechs debate engagement models with banks

Read more here.

Even though the coronavirus continues to pose a serious public health threat, governments around the world are trying to protect their economies by easing restrictions. As the crisis enters a new phase, companies are focused on restarting their businesses. Leaders are working hard on issues such as workforce deployment, company operations, and long-term strategy, and they are considering how to account for and report on the consequences of the pandemic.

From June 11 to June 26, 2020, Tapestry Networks convened a series of virtual meetings with the audit committee chairs of more than 100 large US public companies to discuss how boards and audit committees are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. EY experts and senior leaders joined the audit chairs in these meetings.

This ViewPoints synthesizes discussions about three themes that emerged in the meetings:

• Workforce well-being remains a top priority for boards

• Operational and strategic initiatives are under review

• Financial reporting challenges are likely to persist through year end

Read the full ViewPoints here.

To read all of Tapestry's recent ViewPoints regarding board response to COVID-19: 

• Audit committee chairs discuss the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic

• Board and audit committee oversight of corporate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

• Board and audit committee oversight of COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery

Private sector wants more — and better — cybersecurity cooperation with government

Morning Consult is a global technology company revolutionizing ways to collect, organize, and share survey research data to transform how decisions are made.

On March 9, 2020, Morning Consult published an Op-Ed written by Jonathan Day and Michael Mahoney of Tapestry Networks. The piece highlights the need for better coordination between the government and corporations on dealing with emerging and evolving cybersecurity threats. 

Read the Op-Ed in full.