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Logo from Asia Society Hong Kong Centre

On January 14th, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK) and US regtech pioneer Starling led an online discussion about persistent challenges in the governance and supervision of conduct risk, how new technologies may help to correct the conditions that led to past failures, and also to boost operational resiliency during these challenging times — and into the future.  Such questions have deeply occupied regulators, exchanges, and firms in the last years, and relevant trends were considered.

To conduct a meaningful discussion, Starling and the Asia Society convened a panel of experts that included:

• Starling advisor Gary Cohn, who is Vice Chairman of IBM, past Director of the US National Economic Council and former President & COO of Goldman Sachs;
• Charles Li, Senior Advisor to the Board and recent past-CEO at the Hong Kong Exchange Group; 
• Motonobu Matsuo, Secretary General of the Japan Securities & Exchange Surveillance Commission; and 
• Loretta Yuen, Group General Counsel & Executive Vice-President of Singapore’s OCBC Bank

Work from home orders have resulted in operational difficulties at firms worldwide. In the financial sector, this has exacerbated persistent challenges in the governance and supervision of conduct risk, helping to keep corporate governance and risk management reform high on the agenda across Asia. Leaders and regulators are looking to new technologies to boost operational resiliency during these challenging times — and into the future.

To explore these trends, and project what they may imply in the near term future, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK) and US regtech pioneer Starling will lead an online discussion on January 14th (9am Hong Kong local time).  Attendance for the hour-long session via Zoom, YouTube and Facebook is free of charge.  For a small fee, participants may opt to join an additional 30 minutes of Q&A with the panelists.  (Note: this private session is via Zoom only)

Ronnie C. Chan, Chairman of ASHK, will deliver the Opening Remarks and Starling Founder & CEO Stephen Scott will moderate a panel discussion with:

• Gary Cohn, Vice Chairman of IBM, former Director of the US National Economic Council, and past President/COO at Goldman Sachs
• Charles Li, past-CEO and Senior Advisor to the Board at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX)
• Motonobu Matsuo, Secretary General of the Japan Securities & Exchange Surveillance Commission, and 
• Loretta Yuen, Group General Counsel & Executive Vice-President of OCBC Bank

Get more details about the event here.

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Uncertainty, coupled with the new remote-work environment in many companies triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, has created an entirely new set of challenges for organizations and their leaders.  In a June 2020 interview, McKinsey spoke with Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, to discuss these new challenges and how their leaders can respond.

Before COVID, many leaders would wander around the workplace to foment connections among employees and to inculcate a shared vision for their organizations. Today, such physical interaction is not possible.  But a digitally-driven set of conversations, conducted among small groups, can still work to develop the “connective tissue linking actions to a shared vision for the future,” according to Edmondson.

Edmondson, who recently joined Starling as an Academic Advisor, defines psychological safety as “an absence of interpersonal fear” and stated that, when it is present, “people are able to speak up with work-relevant content.” 

In an environment where everyone is concerned about they physical safety (e.g., the threat of Covid-illness), a focus on psychological safety becomes all the more important.  And shared fears, Edmondson explained, might in fact allow people to become more open with colleagues, and to feel freer to share their thoughts and concerns. As such, if harnessed conscientiously, Covid-driven workplace disruptions may actually work to help increase psychological safety.

In recent years, organizations worldwide have recognized the importance of psychological safety to sound company culture. In a digital workplace, where traditional staff monitoring is much more difficult, it is more important than ever that employees share a sense of purpose and are willing to speak up when something is wrong.  To facilitate this, Edmondson emphasized, leaders must avoid projecting overconfidence and, instead, strive to cultivate team dynamics that aim towards problem-solving amidst uncertainty. 

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