Financial Services
Research and expert access for financial-sector clients — banking, payments, asset servicing and insurance across Greater China and Southeast Asia.
Financial-sector work is the part of our practice where the boundaries matter most, so it is worth being exact about what we do.
We conduct research and arrange access to independent experts. We do not provide investment recommendations, we do not manage money, and we do not carry on any activity regulated under the Securities and Futures Ordinance. Where a question touches licensing or regulatory treatment, our work is regulatory research — a description of how a rule is applied in practice — and not a legal opinion.
Within those boundaries, the sector rewards primary research more than most. Published market data in the region lags reality by quarters, and the difference between an operating model that works and one that does not is usually visible only to the people running it.
Experts engaged on financial-sector assignments confirm in writing, before each call, that they will not discuss material non-public information about any listed issuer and will not disclose confidential information belonging to a current or former employer. Our interviewers are briefed to end a call that approaches either line.
Typical questions
- How do cross-border payment corridors between Hong Kong and the mainland work in practice, and where do settlement times actually go
- Which licences does a given activity require in this jurisdiction, and how long does the process take in practice rather than on paper
- How has a competitor structured its distribution, and what does that imply about its cost base
- What is the operational reality behind a vendor's product claims, from firms that have run it in production
- How do local institutions evaluate a partner of our type, and what disqualifies one
Experts we engage
- Former operations and product managers from regional and international banks
- Payments and settlement specialists who have run cross-border corridors
- Compliance and financial-crime officers with first-hand licensing experience
- Insurance underwriting and distribution managers from Asian markets
- Technology leads who have implemented core banking and payments platforms