Hayat Douich

Economy

“While there is a lot of turbulence, banks are experiencing the opposite side of the coin. Their income and result have increased with the increase in interest rates.

What makes these times interesting is that there is a lot of uncertainty, which differs from the GFC as everyone knew that was just bad. In banking, revenues are in fact growing due to the increase in interest rates. With an increased cost of borrowing, we do see an impact in terms of the way firms look at funding opportunities and those are really dependent on firm specific situations. High liquidity leads to more internal financing. If you have the possibility of looking at scenarios, it is best to look at the cost effectiveness of those factors.

I would say there is still scarcity in the specialist jobs in finance—quants, IT architects—which has not changed. There is are stricter budget discussions taking place. Another interest thing is that the type of profile is changing. You see more econometrics and legal backgrounds as well as for data scientists, this variety in skillsets asked has changed. I see an increased appetite for leaderships skills, employees want to be inspired and this requires more than technical skills.

Banks are looking at broadly decreasing their Opex and Capex and at the same time keeping the strategy and vision in mind.

Banks are looking at their balance sheet and based on that determine the way they want to fund something. Depending on your type of organization and the project you wish to finance you really look for a particular type of funding. If you give equity away, you give ownership away and this can create issues in terms of the freedom to pursue projects. It also requires also a higher return than bank debt.

Cyber security has absolutely been a top three issue for financial services providers and it requires a continuous focus. Skill scarcity is also something usually found in the top 5.”

Sustainability

“I recognize that a lot of organizations are on the late side of starting the CSRD implementation and that in some instances it was underestimated. This reflects in the skill scarcity with all organizations pursuing the same people. If I look at sustainability more broadly there is a lot that can still be done beyond CSRD.

I see that the regulatory pressure and the demand standards are higher and require steps to be taken, there is an image issue, you cannot have an external image that you do not care. Lastly, there is a limited intrinsic reason to pursue the issue. This requires you to look at your products, bottom line, and how you measure KPIs. This is very complex questions.

In sustainability I see 3 things moving the needle: increased regulatory pressure, external demand and intrinsic motivation. The first 2 have most impact, while intrinsic motivation is increasing, but still work to do.

It is also a relatively young topic for organization’s agendas. There is a learning curve that we need to go through. It is also in competition with other priorities.”

Digital

“The funny thing is that when I stopped being a CPA was because I felt my job would be automated away. That was my young enthusiasm… What I recognize is that a lot has happened in finance, but there are still so many opportunities. Finance as a functioned that is often swamped with period closes etc. I think digitalization is part of the answer but also standardization. It is more of a time crunch thing rather than not seeing the value add.

This time crunch is really due to increasing regulatory standards and every time you think you have implemented the change to be compliant, the next one begins. They come so fast after each other and you cannot pick and choose when to begin and combine that with data availability and data readiness and there is even more pressure. In financial services there are so many regulatory changes and topics that need to be resolved, but I do have to say that some findings from regulators do function as the agent of change.

Recommendation/advice: In these uncertain times, really take your space and place at the table when it comes to strategic discussions.”

Do you have an interesting story to tell as well?