Financial services worldwide are under enormous pressure from Governments and Regulators to change and regain the confidence of their customers. Unfortunately bad PR is not doing the Banks much favour, promoting how they are feasting on huge profits while their customers and consumers struggle out of an economic dark age. However, changes are coming, despite any attempt to slow up the revolution, the die is cast.

To date the front office has taken most of the attention of the consumer and regulator, but it is Post Trade Operations that will feel the brunt of the change. Estimates of the cost of change are varied but all place it in the $billions and on a global scale.

What are the areas of post trade that will incur most costs and what will be the likely changes to operations?

Will it be the wholesale markets or the retail markets that will have to take on most changes and how will these changes be managed?

We can't expect much help from regulators and there are far too many industry groups looking after or maybe protecting their particular market sector. Unfortunately it is this vertical approach by the finance industry that creates most barriers to change.

Financial Services firms need to have a horizontal view of the finance industry to broaden their knowledge and understanding of domestic and international markets. In this way change will be better understood and implemented. The vertical structure of financial services firms has been an impediment to the finance industry for far too long and needs to be rectified by individuals, as much as corporates.

Organisations like the CISI do a good job in trying to broaden the knowledge base of its members but it is handicapped by its organisational structure and inability to challenge convention and lobby. Other institutes also have these issues which are replicated throughout many of the numerous industry trade organisations.

Regulators and Government agencies have found it impossible to find a single group that is representative of the entire industry and this hinders consultations for the creation of new Directives and rules. All this makes change so difficult and inevitably leads to ongoing amendments to rules after implementation.

To help bridge the knowledge gap on a horizontal industry scale a series of debates will be held by The Post Trade Forum formed by B.I.S.S. Research and Finextra looking at cross industry issues aimed exclusively at practitioners in the Post Trade operational space.

Join the debate and the exclusive Post Trade Forum on LinkedIn and give voice to the issues which cause you most concern in Post Trade Operations.