Publication

The COVID-19 pandemic caused massive personal and economic upheaval across the globe. It led to unprecedented actions from governments and central banks to support businesses and individuals, and it accelerated some trends toward deglobalization. As financial institutions considered ramifications for their customers and their balance sheets, regulators have focused on ensuring financial and operational resilience of firms and the system.

On November 10–12, 2020, Tapestry Networks and EY hosted the Financial Services Leadership Summit (FSLS). More than 70 directors and executives from among the largest banks and insurers joined EY executives, investors, and other experts for video discussions on the issues shaping financial services, including how policy and regulation are likely to evolve. Participants discussed the implications of the US presidential election for financial services policy, regulators’ priorities going into 2021, and China’s ambitions in the global financial system.

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. This ViewPoints presents a synthesis of policy-related discussions that occurred both during the summit and in conversations conducted prior to it, focusing on two key topics:

• Major changes to financial services policies are unlikely

• China’s emerging fintech sector is unlikely to go global