The CII’s position paper no.1 (‘A professional body forretail financial services?’), published in October, set outan overview of the possible professional response to theFSA’s Retail Distribution Review and to the challenge ofestablishing, against the background of more...

The subprime crisis which hit the United States in summer 2007 and morphed into a full blow global financial upheaval in autumn 2008 has taken a heavy toll on the insurance industry. Some industry players with significant financial markets and banking operations were seriously damaged by the...

Open Road strongly endorses the move towards professionalism being led by CII. This is essential both in the public interest, and in the interests of CII members and the insurance and financial services industry generally. In summary the recommendations fall into six principal areas.[...]

For many reasons, payment systems are subject to strong network effects; one of those is the necessity of interoperability among participants. This is often accomplished via standard-setting organizations. The goal of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) is to establish modern cross-boarder...

This paper develops a theoretical framework to shed light on variation in credit rating standards over time and across asset classes. Ratings issued by credit rating agencies serve a dual role: they provide information to investors and are used to regulate institutional investors. We show that...

The Bank of England collects data from banks, building societies and insurance companies in the UK. We use this data to monitor and react to risks in the financial sector, and the economy more widely, and to supply data to the Office for National Statistics. We have been working with other...

In its new form, the ISO 9001:2015 standard activates and utilizes a thought pattern based on risk assessment functioning in parallel with the implementation of the system regarding quality management. Therefore, we strive to identify the risks and opportunities associated with the processes and...

The information asymmetries inherent in credence goods have typically led economists to conclude these markets require well-defined quality standards and third-party verification that producers are meeting those standards. Nonetheless, many producers of credence goods appear to be opting out of...