Welcome to the second in our series of special conversations about how the pandemic may change the shape of financial regulation. Last time we talked with former Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry. Today, my guest is another former Comptroller, and now the CEO and Founder of Promontory Financial Group, Eugene Ludwig.
Gene Ludwig has been a household name in the financial regulatory realm for decades, and it was wonderful to be able to tap into his thinking about how this unprecedented crisis may change that world. He shares his insights about likely impacts for various sectors, for community banks, and for the government’s efforts thus far to provide rescue assistance.
Our listeners will be especially interested in Gene’s thinking about how the crisis will reshape the technology of bank regulation. He foresees accelerating changes in how to conduct examinations, movement toward more shared utilities and third-party providers, and use of new kinds of data, combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning to leverage it. We also talked about the likely impact of all this change on privacy law and regulation.
Let me note that regulatory technology transformation is the subject of our Regtech Manifesto, being issued soon by AIR as a Request for Comment. Please watch for that!
As risks rise in the economy, it’s worth remembering that banks did not cause this crisis, and that they are in fact working hard to help their customers weather it. Nevertheless, Gene draws on his long experience to predict a likely arc of regulatory evolution for the short, medium and long term, which will generate a great deal of impact on banks. And he shares some advice for his successors who are now leading our regulatory agencies.
Speaking of how regulation may change, I want to share some major news. The G20 and the Bank for International Settlements have launched the first-ever global techsprint, seeking technology solutions for major challenges that face financial regulators throughout the world. They have created three powerful problem statements and are offering a cash prize of $50,000. I will be serving as a judge. The deadline for submitting applications to participate is very soon — May 20.Here are the details.
More on Gene Ludwig
Gene is the founder and chief executive officer of Promontory Financial Group and is a trusted adviser to many of the world’s leading financial companies. He is widely recognized as a farsighted thinker on the most pressing issues confronting financial services. Before founding Promontory, Gene served under President Clinton as U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the head of the federal agency responsible for supervising the preponderance of U.S. banking assets. He went on to become vice chairman and senior control officer of Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank.
