In this week’s episode, Catherine Thornton, Member of Compliance Institute's Prudential, Regulation and Governance Working Group speaks with Sean MacHale, Partner at EY Dublin, Head of Global Sustainable Finance Innovation Hub and Camile Paparelli, Partner EY London, who is the ESG Reporting and Disclosure lead for UK Insurers.  The importance of climate considerations and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Factors are now critical in shaping strategies and operations of Financial Institutions worldwide. As the focus on sustainable practices and ethical governance grows, understanding and implementing ESG regulations including climate considerations has become more important now then ever. In its February 2025 Regulatory & Supervisory Outlook (RSO) report, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) again acknowledged the climate crisis, noting the weakening of earlier net zero commitments and timelines by governments and corporations, and the gap between progress being made against what is needed to slow down climate change deteriorating. With irreversible effects of acting too late a real risk to the very existence of the planet. In this episode, Sean and Camille discuss this broad topic and evaluates how progress of ESG and Climate varies across the 3 key sectors - Banking, Insurance and Funds.

In this week’s episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute and Chair of the Institute’s Sustainability Working Group speaks with Dr. Norah Storey, Lecturer in Finance at the South East Technological University (SETU). Dr. Norah Storey has conducted a study on the perceptions in low carbon investing and the extent to which finance is stepping up to play its full role in investing for the transition. In this week's podcast. Norah explains the role of the financial system in the transition to net zero. Norah outlines the methodology you used in her research and describes her findings. Norah discusses the short to medium term implications for the low carbon transition of her findings.

In this week’s episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute and Chair of the Institute’s Sustainability Working Group speaks with Philip Brennan, Founder and Managing Director of Raiseaconcern.com and former President of Compliance Institute. Philip delves into the critical and evolving topic of Whistleblowing, its regulation within the European Union and how it has evolved in practice. Whistleblowing, broadly defined as the act of exposing wrongdoing within an organisation, is a vital tool for promoting transparency and accountability. In this podcast we explore the impact of the EU Whistleblowing Directive of 2019, on both businesses and individuals. Philip provides insights into the real-world implications and challenges faced by organisations. Philip also uncovers the challenges, successes, and future prospects of whistleblowing in the EU, and how it shapes the landscape of corporate governance and culture.

The European Accessibility Act, approved in 2019, will come into effect on 28 June 2025, and will mark a significant shift in the EU. In this week’s episode of the Compliance Files Podcast Series, Patrick Erhard, Compliance Specialist, Mercer and Member of Compliance Institute's Consumer Protection Working Group speaks with Cormac Chisholm CEO, DevAlly about the European Accessibility Act (EAA). Cormac provides an overview of the EAA including it’s importance and objectives. Cormac details the impact of the EAA and the specific sectors and services that the Act covers. Cormac outlines the common barriers that organisations encounter when trying to meet accessibility standards and describes the steps that organisations must take to comply with the EAA. Finally, Cormac provides the best practices that organisations can adopt to ensure they meet the EAA requirements.

In this week’s episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute and Chair of the Institute’s Sustainability Working Group speaks with Alan Holmes, Advisor & Independent Non-Executive Director, Board and Audit Chair on the topic of the Voice of an INED. Alan takes us through his career to date and he outlines the core purpose of an Independent Non-Executive Director (INED) and how it differs from that of an Executive Director. Alan describes how INEDs help balance the interests of stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, and customers. Alan describes how INEDs ensure strong governance and accountability while still fostering innovation and growth and what qualities or skills make someone an effective INED in today’s corporate environment. Finally, Alan outlines what he thinks the future holds for INEDs, and how their responsibilities continue to shift in a rapidly changing business landscape.

In this week’s episode, Deirdre O’Reilly, Independent Non-Executive Director and Member of Compliance Institute’s Prudential, Regulation and Governance Working Group speaks with David Corrigan, Chief Risk Officer, AIB Merchant Services, Eoin Shields, European Chief Risk Officer, Squareup International Limited and Conor Walsh, Independent Consultant and former Chief Risk Officer at KBC Bank Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland released their Regulatory & Supervisory Outlook Report in February 2024. The aim of this report was to outline their perspective on the key trends and risks that are shaping the operating landscape of the financial services sector. Within this context in our second part series, we look at the theme of Risk Management. In this week’s podcast our guest speakers cover the Central Bank of Ireland’s assessment of the key risks facing regulated firms over a two-year time horizon which more broadly are captured under three thematic headings of the: - Macroeconomic and geopolitical environment - How regulated entities are responding to a changing world - Longer term structural forces at play They unpack each of these themes and discuss risk governance best practice more broadly. 

In this week’s episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute speaks with Kelly-Anne Rainey, Senior Recruitment Consultant Compliance, formerly of Robert Walters on the topic of Talent Retention. Kelly-Anne outlines what she is seeing in today’s market for Compliance Professionals and what is making them think about moving employer. Kelly-Anne describes what she sees as the main challenges for firms in attracting talent into their organisations and what organisations can do to retain their staff. Kelly-Anne provides examples of good effective employment retention practices and outlines the impact that diversity policies and practices have on recruitment and retention and discusses the role that skills play in recruitment and retention given the proliferation of regulation and regulatory expectations. Finally, Kelly-Anne gives her top tips for employees thinking about the next stage in their career and some pointers for employers.

The Central Bank of Ireland released their Regulatory & Supervisory Outlook Report in February 2024. The aim of this report was to outline their perspective on the key trends and risks that are shaping the operating landscape of the financial services sector. Within this context on this week’s episode, Gustavo Pregoni, Member of the Institute's Prudential Regulations and Governance Working Group speaks with Professor Simon Haslam, Programme Lead - Strategy, Institute of Directors to discuss implications of strategic risk as one of the key risks considered by the regulator in this report. Professor Simon Haslam discusses the Importance of Strategy, how to set a Business Strategy and outlines what a good strategy looks like. Simon describes how to ensure your strategy meets the expectations of the different stakeholders and how to ensure strategic decisions are proactively aligned with organisational capability and risk appetite of the entity. Simon also discusses Strategy Governance: Roles and Responsibilities and Board Reporting.

In this week’s episode, Rachel Woolley, Head of Financial Crime Regulation, Palantir Technologies and Chair of the Institute's Financial Crime Compliance Working Group with the Compliance Institute speaks with Ed McDonnell, MLRO and Head of AML at TD Securities and Member of the Institute's Financial Crime Compliance Working Group, and Shane Keyes, MLRO and Head of AML at Carne Group on the topic of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). In this week’s episode, Rachel is joined by two seasoned experts in financial crime to help us unpack the intricacies of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). They look at the risks they pose, the regulations governing them, and the practical challenges faced by institutions in managing PEPs related risks.

In this week’s episode, Siobhain Ivers, Senior Director & Deputy Chief Compliance Officer, Etsy Inc.and Chair of the Institute’s Fintech and Payments Working Group speaks with John O'Connor, Partner, Technology & Data and co-Head of FinTech at William Fry LLP, Claire O’Connor, Senior Associate, Technology & Data Protection, Fintech at William Fry LLP, Member of the Institute's Fintech and Payments Working Group and Chair of the Institute’s Southwest Regional Chapter Committee and Greg James, Senior Manager, fscom and Member of the Institute’s Fintech and Payments Working Group on the topic of AI in Financial Services. The guests on today's episode have specific experience of navigating the challenges faced by financial services firms who have implemented or are in the process of implementing Artificial Intelligence solutions to empower their business. In this episode they explore some of those use cases, the provisions of the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act and the practical legal considerations when regulated financial institutions are procuring AI solutions.

In this weeks episode of the Compliance Files Podcast, Kathy Jacobs, former President, Compliance Institute speaks with Ann Shiels, founder of sustainable finance regulatory firm, FinLexSus and Ann is also the Program Director for the Compliance Institute’s Professional Diploma in Sustainable Finance for Compliance Professionals delivered in partnership with the IOB.    In this episode, we revisit a familiar topic, and that is ESG Sustainability. There is a language and vocabulary growing up around sustainability. So in this episode, we are taking a helicopter view by doing a stock take on the regulation, and to explain some of the terms, acronyms to come to an understanding of the current position, and we  explore what a Compliance Framework for sustainability look like. Since the podcast was recorded, the CSDDD has been endorsed by the European Council in March 2024.

In this weeks episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute speaks with Greta Koch, Policy adviser and press officer to Axel Voss, MEP, European Parliament on the latest addition to Sustainability Regulation the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Greta describes how she became an advisor to Axel Voss in the European Parliament and her role. Greta explains where her interest in sustainability started. Greta discusses why the EU considered that an EU-wide supply chain due diligence legislation is required and what the process was for bringing the CS3D from a Proposal through to final approval. Greta explains what the changes were and why they were made and what the main provisions and the timelines of the CS3D are. Greta outlines what she anticipates will be the major challenges in the roll-out and implementation of CS3D across the EU and what she thinks will be the major challenges for in-scope organisations.

In this week's episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute speaks with Jessica Ramos, Head of Regulatory Oversight and Financial Affairs, EBA Clearing, to discuss the state of payments regulation in the EU today. In this episode, Jessica describes who EBA Clearing are and her role within the company. Jessica advises why she works in the payments industry and what she enjoys about the industry. Jessica outlines the current challenges and opportunities in payments and what role regulation plays in payments. Jessica paints a picture of the current payments EU regulation landscape and what challenges regulation has brought to the payments industry and the industry has responded. Jessica describes the role the customer plays in shaping the agenda for payments and what she sees the future holding for the industry

In this week’s episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute speaks with Dr Valerie Lyons, Chief Operating Officer of BH consulting on the value of Privacy above and beyond Data Protection. Valerie describes her own journey in Privacy and what inspired her and Todd Fitzgerald to write The Privacy Compass and also outlines what readers can expect from the book. Valerie outlines what the McKinsey 7-S Framework is, and why and how she utilised it in her Privacy Compass. Valerie explains ‘Strategy’s’ place in the 7S Privacy Compass and what good looks like. Valerie discusses ethics in privacy and describes what an ethical approach to privacy looks like. Turning to ESG, Valerie discusses in her book privacy as part of ESG – ‘ESGp’; Valerie explains this term and privacy’s place in ESG. Valerie discusses the three top skills required of a privacy leader.  Finally, Valerie provides her thoughts on the future for privacy – what the threats, challenges and also the opportunities are in privacy.

In this week’s episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute speaks with Maeve Monaghan, CEO, NOW Group on the topic of Purposeful Leadership. In this episode, Maeve take us through her career, up to her leadership of the NOW Group and  describes the values that she seeks to live as a leader. Maeve outlines what the NOW Group is and it's mission. Maeve delves into what purpose means to her and why it is important. Maeve outlines what her personal purpose is and the purpose of NOW Group is. Maeve describes how she brings her purpose to life in the NOW Group and how this helps with engagement with stakeholders. Maeve also goes through the publication of NOW Group’s social impact on their website and describes the importance of an organisation highlighting its social impact.

In this week episode, Kathy Jacobs, former President of Compliance Institute and Chair of the Institute’s Sustainability Working Group speaks with Russell Burke, Regulatory and Strategic Payments Consultant, Juristic Ltd in relation to the Central Bank of Ireland’s Authorisation Process and how to navigate this process efficiently and to secure that Authorisation. In this episode, Russell outlines who needs an Authorisation and discusses the legal framework underpinning the Authorisations process. Russell also describes the common mistakes made by firms in making their application and the implications / consequences of these errors are. Russell advises how firms can set themselves up for success in this process. Russell explains if he foresees any changes to the Authorisation process and what developments he anticipates.

In part 2 of our International Women's Day Podcast episode, Jacquie Ryan, Program Manger, PAT Business School and member of the Institute’s D&I Committee speaks with Claudette Whyte, Council Member and Chair of the Institute’s D&I Committee on the Gender Pay Gap, Imposter Syndrome, her career journey, her mentorship journey and how she achieves a work life balance. Jacquie also speaks with Peter Hession, Chief Risk Officer (CRO), TransferMate Global Payments on his experience of advocating for gender diversity and inclusion in the workplace, what has motivated him to become an ally. Paul also outlines what strategies he uses to ensure Women's voices are heard and valued in the decision making process. Peter and Claudette also discuss their ally ship experiences, mentorship experiences and also what initiatives organisations can do to to become more diverse and inclusive.

In advance of International Women’s Day on Friday 8th March, Jacquie Ryan, Program Manager, PAT Business School and member of the Institute’s D&I Committee speaks with Maria Walsh, Member of the European Parliament for Midlands-North-West Constituency - Fine Gael & EPP Group. On this week’s episode Maria discusses, the Gender Pay Gap, outlines financial security and STEM advances for women as mentioned in the EU Parliament Podcast, Pink Tax, the work being done on cyber-crime and effects on cyber-crime on women. Looking at Maria’s role in politics Maria advised how we can encourage women to work in politics or to seek leadership positions and gives advise on achieving a work life balance.

On this week’s episode of the Compliance Files Podcast series, Kathy Jacobs, former President, Compliance Institute speaks with Azariah Nukajam, Associate Director, fscom in relation to the current position in Ireland and describes the main themes or challenges encountered by her clients. Looking at the Consultation Papers, CPs 153 and 154, Azariah takes the Duty of Responsibility and outlines what this means, and how you would go about implementing it in practice. Azariah describes the challenges where a firms business model relies on outsourcing and gives her advice to anyone struggling with implementation at this point. Azariah details in her view, what the future for these regimes looks like.

On this week’s episode of the Compliance Files Podcast series, Kathy Jacobs, former President Compliance Institute speaks with Azariah Nukajam, Associate Director, fscom about what we can learn from the international accountability regimes. In this episode Azariah outlines where we are now in the process of rolling out the IAF regime and where in-scope institutions should be at this stage. Azariah then turns to the international perspective – countries that have accountability regimes implemented and takes us through a few of these regimes. Azariah advises on how these regimes have been regarded by industry in these jurisdictions and in her view what has been a successful regime. Azariah then outlines what enforcement she has seen in other jurisdiction and what firms can learn from the international roll out and experience.