Peter’s extensive experience within the global financial services market and knowledge of current and forthcoming legislation - including Basel III, the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) and Margin on Uncleared Derivatives - places him in a unique positive to support D2LT’s work in improving the way financial institutions manage and treat their legal contract data as reference data to mitigate systemic risk.

“The financial industry has quite a mountain to climb,” Peter says. “My experience, both within financial institutions and as industry advisor, has taught me that the issues around data management are fundamental; that data quality remains poor; and that financial regulation, together with the management of legal and operational risk, is only going become ever more complex. To cope, firms need to think radically about how they manage data. It remains a problem that is, quite frankly, widely misunderstood.”

Peter originally qualified as a mathematician and chartered accountant, before holding a variety of positions both within financial institutions and as industry regulator and advisor – including the Association of Futures, Brokers and Dealers (AFBD) and the Serious Fraud Office, as well as Head of Regulatory Control for non-US entities at Credit Suisse. It was within this latter role that he first realised the magnitude of the issues associated with legal data management.

Peter subsequently spent ten years with Wachovia Bank as Head of Market, Credit and Operational Risk, before moving to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) in 2011, where in his capacity as Head of Risk and Capital he lead industry groups with the Basel Committee on forthcoming legislation, including FRTB, BCBS 239 and Basel III.
He adds, “Data and risk management is a huge issue for the industry, yet not one organisation currently has it completely right. For example, there can be few major banks that have not been fined for misinterpretation or mis-management of client asset rules. And whilst the largest institutions should have the resources to address the issues, the smaller banks remain largely at risk – especially with the introduction of the new Trading Book rules.”
Peter concludes, “I am therefore delighted to join Akber Datoo and the D2 Legal Technology team. The company boasts a skill set that I have not encountered before, in terms of their ability to combine legal and technology. It places them in a unique position to provide expert guidance on documentation technology and processes, capital markets legal documentation and risk management. I believe that the combination of our expertise will prove very effective in helping to find a practical solution to the complexity of financial regulation.”