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 - Why escalating cyberattacks, ICT vulnerabilities, and sophisticated fraud are now at the core of operational risk management across Europe’s financial sector. Introduction European banks have entered a new era of operational risk exposure — one dominated not by rogue traders or faulty models, but by invisible adversaries in cyberspace. As digitalisation accelerates and financial institutions migrate core processes to the cloud, operational resilience has become the defining risk management challenge of the decade. The European Banking Authority (EBA) now consistently identifies cyber and ICT (Information and Communication Technology systems) risk as the most critical operational risk facing the banking sector. Rising losses, growing dependence on external technology providers, and an intensifying threat environment underscore the urgency of this challenge. At the same time, fraud, conduct risk, and third-party dependency are converging with cyber threats, amplify...