The financing, social, economic and technological landscape in Europe in recent years has presented both opportunities and challenges to financiers and investors. The level of change is unprecedented, and navigating the environment requires a new combination of balanced skills including entrepreneurship, timely response, prudence and compliance.
Finance professionals, along with society at large, now routinely have to consider difficult questions, such as:
Social
- What does the changing demographic (ageing population, significant migration) mean for the economy?
- What will be the impact of competing protectionist and globalisation trends on cross-border businesses?
- Should companies exist primarily to create shareholder wealth?
- How will businesses have to contribute to limiting climate change and its effects?
Economic
- Will Brexit trigger a recession in the UK and across the EU?
- How will the global economy react to the retreat of quantitative easing and a slowdown in the Chinese economy?
Technological
- What implications will 5G, Blockchain technology, the Internet of Things and Big Data analysis have for business?
- Can our clients protect customer data in the face of increasing levels of (often state sponsored) cyber-terrorism?
- How will AI affect the work we do and the training required by employees?
Regulatory
- Which banks/countries have addressed capital adequacy and non-performing loan portfolios? Where do issues remain?
- What implications do reforms in restructuring and insolvency legislation have for existing and future opportunities? For example, how real is the prospect of a Pan-European Chapter 11 style proceeding?