As support for populist movements increases, policy makers may feel pressured to reduce international cooperation in finance and economics. Against this backdrop, the theme of CIGI and Oliver Wyman’s fourth annual Financial Regulatory Outlook Conference, held in Rome on November 9, 2017, was the implications for financial regulation of the recent shift in political sentiment from multilateralism to nationalism. The policy discussions centred around four main themes: full and consistent implementation of the international financial regulatory reform efforts that began in the midst of the 2007–2009 financial crisis; developing international standards in areas where regulatory reforms have been less robust; international cooperation on creating standards for fintech; and improving policy makers’ communication of international policy initiatives to national constituencies. While conference participants did not forecast any dire consequences of the political landscape for the financial system, several conference participants held the view that a new regulatory equilibrium would not be reached any time soon.
