Following the Rules

Today’s guest is leading the UK’s audit regulator through reform without the legislative powers originally promised. Two years into the job, he argues the Financial Reporting Council is acting anyway, using proportionate, common-sense regulation to support growth and investment.

He sets out a pragmatic agenda for keeping UK audit credible and relevant, covering everything from market concentration and SME audits to AI and the future talent pipeline.

He explains why the watchdog has stripped back governance and stewardship codes, warning that over-prescription has driven box-ticking and weakened board accountability. He defends comply-or-explain as a strength of the UK system and urges companies to be braver in using it.

And he renews his call for political action to back his reform agenda in peacetime, before the next corporate failure forces Parliament’s hand.

Richard Moriarty is Chief Executive of the FRC, the UK regulator responsible for audit, corporate reporting and governance.

Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules, produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape.

The series offers practical insights to help firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change.

Today, we’re examining one of the most complex shifts in modern financial regulation: the process of bringing crypto into the regulatory perimeter.

Across the UK, EU and US, policymakers are rewriting the rulebook at pace - not only to manage risk, but also to reflect the rapid developments in digital finance. For firms, that means heavier compliance obligations, shifting expectations, and a genuine opportunity to help shape the rules ahead.

So what should businesses be preparing for now? Which parts of the regulatory agenda will hit hardest in the coming months? And how do firms avoid the strategic and structural mistakes that can derail applications or push innovation offshore, while positioning themselves to benefit from clearer rules?

To help unpack all of that, we’re joined by two people at the centre of developments:

Gordon Ritchie, is a Managing Associate in the UK financial regulation team at Simmons & Simmons, advising firms across the evolving UK and EU crypto regimes; and
Tom Duff Gordon, is Vice President for International Policy at Coinbase, leading the crypto exchange’s engagement with governments and regulators globally as they design the next generation of digital-asset rules.

Together, they explore where the regulatory landscape is heading, how business models will need to adapt, and what firms can do today to be ready for, and benefit from, the regulatory wave ahead.

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Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...

Today’s guest delivers a blunt warning to policymakers, arguing the UK has made “a massive mistake” by failing to stop trading venues from charging for market data - a failure she says has weakened the country’s competitiveness. She calls on the government to “wake up and listen” to the scale of the issue or risk losing ground to rival financial centres.

She also argues that the industry’s fixation on blockchain as a panacea to everything has been a decade-long distraction. She sees the real shift now reshaping markets as the move to 24/7 global trading, clearing and settlement. City bosses, she warns, must prepare now by overhauling legacy systems, or risk becoming obsolete.

And she sets out a bold vision for London: to use its existing market infrastructure to become the trusted global venue where any asset can be traded and transferred safely, 24/7, between counterparties.

Niki Beattie has been at the forefront of market infrastructure transformation throughout her career of more than 30 years in financial markets, including more than a decade as Head of EMEA Market Structure at Merrill Lynch International. She founded consultancy Market Structure Partners in 2008 and has extensive experience as Non Executive Director and Chair of public and privately listed firms in the international financial sector.   She is currently Chair of ClearToken, the UK digital-asset clearing and settlement house and a non executive Director of the Financial Markets Standards Board.

 

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Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...

Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape.

The series offers practical insights to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change.

In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most intense moments a business can face - a dawn raid.

When Nick Ephgrave took over as Director of the UK Serious Fraud Office in 2023, he’s pledged “swifter action and more dawn raids” - a clear signal that the agency is refocusing on proactive, visible enforcement.

But what does a dawn raid actually look like in practice? How should firms respond when investigators appear unannounced at the door? And how can businesses prepare, both legally and culturally, for such a high-pressure event?

To answer these questions, we’re joined by two experts on the topic:

Camilla de Silva, who spent over five years at the SFO, rising to Joint Head of the SFO’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption division, before joining Simmons & Simmons in 2020 as a Partner in its Disputes and Investigations group. Since 2023, she has lead Simmons & Simmons’ Corporate Crime and Global Investigations group; and,

Emma Isaac, who worked as criminal legal adviser before moving to the SFO in 2013. In February, she became a member of the agency’s senior leadership team when she was appointed Joint Head of the SFO’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption division.

Together, they discuss how enforcement dynamics are shifting, what mistakes companies tend to make under pressure, and what practical steps legal and compliance teams can take today to be ready if the SFO comes knocking.

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Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...

Today’s guest outlines how the accelerating pace of regulatory change poses significant challenges for global financial institutions. He highlights that fragmentation can create a complex landscape for banks’ compliance divisions, and underscores the benefits of adopting a more coordinated, risk-based approach to rulemaking.

He also discusses how the industry could best evolve the traditional three lines of defence model, how banks can better anticipate risks and how banks and regulators can collaborate to achieve an effective balance between protecting markets and promoting growth.

Graham Kent’s career spans three decades and includes seven years as a lawyer at Clifford Chance. He joined Deutsche Bank’s legal department in 2006. He has since held several senior roles across the bank’s legal and compliance divisions before becoming its Group Chief Compliance Officer in 2024.

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Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...