Emerging Trends in the Post-Regulatory Environment: The Importance of Instilling Trust

The financial services industry is one of the most critical pillars of economic growth and sustainable development in any country. As such, the findings of the 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer, that measures trust in institutions with more than 33,000 respondents in 28 countries over the last 15 years, are highly alarming. Accordingly, the financial services industry is ranked among the lowest with a mere 51 % on a global basis. Despite this darkened outlook, areas exist that seem to be promising: Sustainability management, responsible innovation and the organized and systemic efforts to increase transparency, comparability, accountability and reliability. Although the recent crises in financial markets have led regulators to come to a general agreement that a mutual effort is needed to develop procedures for increased compliance standards, and increase the pace of harmonization in accounting and financial reporting standards, the industry is faced with an imminent challenge: The low levels of trust in financial services. In this chapter, the author discusses how to re-build trust and reputation of the industry.