Regulators pivot to tackle ‘new normal’

‘The best-laid plans… oft go awry’, the saying goes. With financial supervisory agendas taking a hammering from the global pandemic, Mark Simpson and Kimberly Everitt review regulatory developments of 2020 and explore hot topics for compliance personnel to watch in 2021.

Mark Simpson is a partner and Kimberly Everitt a knowledge lawyer, with Baker McKenzie in London. Contact them on mark.simpson@bakermckenzie.com and kimberly.everitt@bakermckenzie.com. They received assistance from associates Julian Hui, Guy Stevenson, Sarah Williams, Oliver Pike, Rosanne Hooper and Shaneil Shah.

Last year proved to be uniquely challenging for regulators and financial institutions alike, as the Covid-19 pandemic refocused business plans and regulatory agendas to deal with the immediate crisis and fallout. As 2021 begins to take shape, what can we expect to be at the top of regulators’ agendas? Beyond the significant resources and attention devoted to pandemic recovery efforts, they will focus on their continuing priorities like sustainability, innovation and consumer protection. In addition, we expect prudential reform to be a key issue in 2021, along with the reshaping of the United Kingdom’s regulatory landscape post-Brexit.