How do smaller firms such as Mirabaud cope with increasingly stringent regulatory requirements?
The fundamentals – from AML to MiFID – are constantly evolving, whilst other areas such as outsourcing, operational resilience and sustainability have become regulatory pillars in their own right. All these standards are placing increasing structural pressure on smaller organisations.
The challenge, therefore, is to incorporate these requirements without undermining the core of the business: customer relations, trust and business growth.
It is therefore essential not to automatically turn guidelines into mandatory requirements. Texts must be interpreted pragmatically to avoid an unnecessary proliferation of internal processes.
What does this entail in terms of organisation and skills?
This requires a high degree of versatility. Smaller organisations cannot afford to employ a large number of specialists and therefore rely on staff who are able to work across several disciplines.
This approach is essential for ensuring consistency in decision-making and business continuity. In a lean organisation, each function contributes directly to the overall balance.
This has practical implications. When opening an account for a corporate entity, the account manager draws on legal, tax and accounting expertise in a cross-border context. This need for versatility also applies to other functions; for example, in Finance, outsourcing reporting involves analysing risks, service continuity and contractual clauses, and may even incorporate ESG considerations.
How can we develop these skills and integrate the tools?
Training plays a central role: it must be contextualised, based on real-life scenarios and integrated into day-to-day work. It is these practical experiences that ensure sustainable skills development and greater operational continuity.
Artificial intelligence acts as an additional driver of efficiency. It does not replace human judgement but enhances it by improving analytical capabilities and freeing up time from repetitive tasks.
Are specialists still indispensable?
Yes, but autonomy is still essential. Every employee must understand the key issues and keep their knowledge up to date as requirements change.
Mutual understanding between lines of defence is also crucial. It ensures consistent decision-making within a complex regulatory environment.
Versatility is key to managing regulatory complexity.
How can we build a sustainable model?
Risk management must remain consistent with the institution’s strategy: defining realistic risk appetites, measuring them and monitoring them over time.
An organisation that tries to replicate the standards of a much larger institution does not become safer: it becomes overwhelmed and loses efficiency.
In this context, individual responsibility plays a key role. Everyone must be able to adapt, understand the issues at stake and adjust their practices in line with regulatory changes.
What is the right balance to strike?
Compliance within a small organisation requires rigour and strategy, but it does not, on its own, define the organisation.
When properly integrated, it enhances versatility, internal consistency and service quality. It also helps to develop skills over time and ensure the continuity of expertise.
The organisation can then focus on what really matters: customer relations, trust and creating value.