This Expert input works as an overview of the basis of most available machine learning techniques and serves as a great stepping stone to get into the intricate world of ML. Whilst mostly written with credit risk in mind – offering some advice for the use of machine learning to help us model Expected credit loss and its components (PD, LGD, EAD), the list of the potential techniques depicted steps far beyond this relatively singular use and examines a multitude of approaches, ranging from Supervised ML (Decision trees, Artificial Neural networks, etc.) through ensemble ML (Random forests, Gradient boosting), to unsupervised ML (Deep learning, Clustering methods, etc.). The input concludes with several general tips and tricks regarding machine learning.

This Expert input gives a basic overview of IFRS 17 and how it is going to be different from the current standards (IFRS 4). We note that there are some similarities between some of the aspects of Solvency II and IFRS standards and examine them, as well as the differences. Furthermore, there are predictions on how the standards are going to influence the operations of insurers and their contracts. Since the insurers are likely to implement IFRS 17 in concert with IFRS 9, the expert input also focuses on how this joint implementation is likely to proceed, what the main challenges are and why it is ultimately a good decision to implement them together.

This expert input addresses PSD 2 and the possibly underappreciated impact it could have on (and arguably beyond) financial services, opening many hitherto closed doors. It looks at the regulatory progress all the way from PSD 1 to PSD 2. It notes that the development of the Single Euro Payments Area – SEPA – would not have been possible without PSD 1, and an analogous paradigm shift may be expected with PSD 2. The article notes that PSD 2 may lead to the emergence of new and a separation of old services in the hands of innovative FinTech companies, though the established players still hold a very strong position to compete, if only they adjust to the new reality.

This Expert input addresses the EMIR-related requirement of keeping a variation and initial margin; more specifically, the initial Margin is the main focus of the article. It lists the advantages of using the scheduled-based approach but shows that the margin requirements using this methodology may be a bit too steep. It further examines the possibility of internal models and concludes that their development could be just too cumbersome for most. It proposes ISDA SIMM as having the advantage of simplicity together with lower (or at least more realistic) requirements. The article finishes with comparing ISDA SIMM with the sensitivity-based approach for FRTB.

This Expert input addresses the degree of preparedness of Banks for the implementation of IFRS 9 as of February 2017 based on an EBA report. In this report, the EBA has carried out a thorough examination of the different stages of the implementing process of IFRS 9, that various different institutions find themselves at, notably making a distinction between the challenges faced by bigger (generally better prepared) and smaller (generally less prepared) institutions. The input finishes with some interesting quantitative observations and a list of EBA worries as well as a list of IFRS 9 challenges that the institutions will need to address once the scramble to formally adopt the standards is complete.