SET Training - Banking and Fintech

By Stanley Epstein -  In the high-stakes theatre of modern finance, we have become masters at managing what we can measure. Boardrooms are well-versed in the precise mathematics of credit and market risk, viewing them as predictable variables in a controllable equation. Yet, there is a "silent disruptor" that refuses to be neatly boxed or fully quantified. Operational risk—the risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people, systems, or external events—is the ghost in the machine. It is messy, human, and deeply interconnected. To navigate this complexity, we must return to a fundamental framework of inquiry. As Rudyard Kipling famously wrote: “I keep six honest serving-men / (They taught me all I knew); / Their names are What and Why and When / And Where and Who and How.” In an era where banking and fintech are converging into a single, hyper-connected ecosystem, these six questions provide the essential mental map for leaders to move beyond the ...

By Stanley Epstein – For years, the promise of stablecoins was straightforward: the digital equivalent of a bank deposit that moves at the speed of the internet. They were marketed as the frictionless future of payments—faster, cheaper, and always on. To the retail user, they appear to be a more efficient way to hold and move value. But beneath the surface of these "digital dollars" lies a profound shift in the hidden plumbing of the global financial system. What happens to a modern economy when money starts migrating from traditional bank accounts to the blockchain? For a long time, central banks viewed these assets as niche "crypto-toys," confined to the speculative fringes. However, a recent working paper from the European Central Bank (ECB) signals a definitive awakening. Stablecoins are no longer mere experiments; they are "money-like instruments" that have begun to disrupt the traditional banking transmission belt. As adoption scales, we are moving...