Free Webinar - COVID-19 and the Payments Industry

In just a couple of months, the COVID-19 virus has changed the world. How we work and how we live has changed and probably will never be the same again.

Last May we presented a short Webinar on the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Payments Industry and we looked at some possible future outcomes in the areas of banking, fintechs, the cashless society, mobile wallets, online shopping, customer behavior and more.

You can now watch this webinar FREE - Register now - just click HERE

Online Mini-Courses

For almost 19 years Citadel Advantage has been producing high quality training courses aimed at the Governance, Risk Management and Compliance space.

We have and continue to offer a wide & comprehensive range of professional courses and training programs in the core areas of governance, compliance, operational risk management, payment & treasury systems, fintech, blockchain and operations/back office management. Our programs are mostly 2-day units with some 1-day units for shorter topics. Some programs are more involved and can run for 3, 4 or even 5-full days.

In recent times and especially since the COVID-19 crisis emerged some 6 months ago, there has been a growing demand for online programs that are much shorter and that get to heart of these issues, providing all the information you need in much shorter sessions of between 60 and 90 minutes.

With this in mind, Citadel Advantage is happy to introduce our Online Mini-Courses - short, to the point sessions that get to the nub of the issue, giving you all the information that you need at your office or home at a fraction of the cost of the typical two-day program. 

MANAGING OPERATIONAL RISK IN A SMALL BUSINESS - Click  HERE

THE A TO Z GUIDE TO MANAGING OPERATIONAL RISK - Click HERE

Operational Risk and Operational Resilience - BIS releases consultative document

The Basel Committee of the BIS released a new consultative document on the principles for operational risk and operational resilience on 6 August 2020.

The consultative document has a three-part focus;

• It proposes operational resilience principles that are aimed at increasing the capacity of banks to withstand disruptions due to potentially severe events.

• Proposes updated principles on operational risk focus on change management and information and communication technologies (ICT).

• Acknowledges that Covid-19 has raised the importance of operational resilience and of mitigating operational risk.

In recent years, the growth of technology-related threats has increased the importance of banks' operational resilience. The Covid-19 pandemic has made the need to address these threats even more pressing. Given the critical role played by banks in the global financial system, increasing banks' resilience to absorb shocks from operational risks, such as those arising from pandemics, cyber incidents, technology failures or natural disasters, will provide additional safeguards to the financial system as a whole.

Recognizing that a concerted operational resilience effort may not prevent a significant shock resulting from a specific hazard, the Committee is looking for comment on proposed Principles for operational resilience that aim to mitigate the impact of potentially severe adverse events by enhancing banks' ability to withstand, adapt to and recover from them.

The Committee is of the view that operational resilience is also an outcome of effective operational risk management. Activities such as risk identification and assessment, risk mitigation (including the implementation of controls), and ongoing monitoring work together to minimize operational disruptions and their effects when they materialize. Given this natural relationship between operational resilience and operational risk, the Committee is proposing updates to its Principles for the sound management of operational risk (PSMOR).


Specifically, the Committee is proposing a limited number of updates to:

1. align the PSMOR with the recently finalised Basel III operational risk framework; 
2. update the guidance where needed in the areas of change management and ICT, and 
3. enhance the overall clarity of the principles document.

The proposed principles for operational resilience set forth in this consultative document not only build upon the proposed updates to the PSMOR, they are largely derived and adapted from existing guidance on outsourcing, business continuity, and risk management-related guidance issued by the Committee or national supervisors over a number of years.

By building upon existing guidance and current practices, the Committee is seeking to develop a coherent framework and avoid duplication. The proposed operational resilience principles focus on governance; operational risk management; business continuity planning and testing; mapping interconnections and interdependencies; third-party dependency management; incident management; and resilient cybersecurity and ICT.

Comments to the CDs should be submitted to the BIS (for link Click here ) by Friday 6 November 2020. All comments may be published on the BIS website unless a respondent specifically requests confidential treatment.

The Basel Committee is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks and provides a forum for cooperation on banking supervisory matters. Its mandate is to strengthen the regulation, supervision and practices of banks worldwide with the purpose of enhancing financial stability. The Committee reports to the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision and seeks its endorsement for major decisions. The Committee does not possess any formal supranational authority, and its decisions do not have legal force. Rather, the Committee relies on its members' commitments to achieve its mandate. The Basel Committee is chaired by Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain. More information about the Basel Committee is available here.

COVID-19 Sparks a Steep Deterioration in Small Business Attitude

Mercator Advisory Group’s new Insight “Summary Report, 2020 Small Business PaymentsInsights, COVID-19 and B2B Payments & Cards - The Result of the Pandemic”, reveals that U.S. small businesses have a much less positive view of the future than in previous years.

Covid-19: what will happen to the global economy? The Economist answers your questions....

The covid-19 pandemic has caused economic chaos and uncertainty. Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief, and Edward Carr, deputy editor of The Economist, answer your questions about the global economy

Digital Payments: The Evolution of Currency

Over the last decade, the digital payments landscape has undergone a structural shift. Consumer behaviors are changing—moving towards contactless and cashless transactions. Meanwhile, as the magnitude of COVID-19 grows, these trends have only accelerated.

Examine the digital payments ecosystem, explore its history and innovative technologies, and how it continues to grow as a solution of choice for trillions of dollars of transactions each year.

Follow this LINK.

COVID-19 and the Payments Industry

In just a couple of months the COVID-19 virus has change the world. How we work and how we live has changed and probably will never be the same again.

Did you miss our free webinar? No problem. Watch it now - on You Tube.

In this presentation, we examine the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the Payments Industry and explore some possible future outcomes in the areas of banking, fintechs, the cashless society, mobile wallets, online shopping, customer behavior, and more.

Want more details on our online training products? Check out the below URLs.

Stanley Epstein's courses 
 
Richard Barr's courses 

 

Recovery post-pandemic - Brett King's views

Futurist, Brett King speaks to Finextra about Covid-19's impact on the industry and the lessons learned up to today, where FIs will move to next, what the future of business looks like post-pandemic.

Business Continuity and the Pandemic

Now and again a "perfect storm" comes along. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of those. Generally "Business Continuity" focuses on localized events - a cyclone, a terrorist attack; but not usually on an event that affects everything, all over the world - at the same time!

COVID-19 has done just that - from shutting down international travel, stopping manufacturing, closing stores, malls, offices, schools, and more.

So just how are firms coping with events?

Read "Lessons from the front line -  How managers have coped with the pandemic" from The Economist. Click HERE.

Downturns are corporate fraudsters’ worst enemy

Booms help fraudsters paper over cracks in their accounts, from fictitious investment returns to exaggerated sales. Slowdowns rip the covering off.

As Warren Buffett once put it: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” This time, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the water has whooshed away at record speed.

Read the full Economist article HERE.

Will Covid-19 break the Internet?

As more and more countries across the world became subject to increasingly severe restrictions during March, the question popping up more and more frequently was "will the coronavirus break the internet?"



In the main the answer is "no" provided that we are talking about broadband; but what if you are connected over a mobile network?

The answer here is not all that straightforward.  Find out more HERE.

Death of the unicorn - Technology startups are headed for a fall

The unicorn reality check was already underway before America declared a national state of emergency over Covid-19 on March 13th. Venture capitalists reckoned that a third of American unicorns would thrive, a third would disappoint and a third would be taken over or die.

Read more HERE

What are the implications of Coronavirus for business? Update 25 June

The coronavirus outbreak is first and foremost a human tragedy, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. It is also having a growing impact on the global economy. McKinsey has published an extensive article that is intended to provide business leaders with a perspective on the evolving situation and implications for their companies.

Read the full McKinsey article HERE.