EY unifies its NZ financial services capabilities under one roof
Joining a setup used by other EY member firms, the New Zealand branch of professional services firm EY has brought together its financial services capabilities under one multidisciplinary roof.
The new dedicated Financial Services Office (FSO) in New Zealand will bring together a pool of more than 100 local professionals, and tap into the expertise from existing FSO teams in Oceania and the Asia Pacific, to provide clients in the financial services industry with an end-to-end professional services offering.
The new business division serves clients in the banking, insurance, wealth & asset management, financial regulation, and fintech sectors, among others.
Leading the Financial Services Office is Paul Roberts, who previously led the firm’s Risk and Advisory practices in New Zealand.
“Now more than ever, the financial services sector is facing an increasingly challenging operating environment, with competition from new market entrants, higher levels of regulatory scrutiny and rapidly evolving customer demands,” said Roberts. “To remain relevant, financial services organisations need to embrace disruption and transform to become more digital, agile and automated.”
Roberts, a thirty-year EY veteran. continued; “The Financial Services Office has been established to help EY clients address these needs, by bringing together the deep sector experience and skills that will support their business transformation. “This is a new addition to the already established network of FSOs around the globe and will enable us to bring the very best of our deep expertise to the New Zealand financial services sector.”
In a press release, EY noted that it was planning to rapidly expand its financial services talent pool, which includes specialties in tax and assurance, people advisory, strategy and transactions, and business and technology consulting professionals. Its current team will also be supported in the new endeavour by the insights and skills of the firm’s 9,000-strong headcount of dedicated financial services professionals across the Oceania and Asia Pacific region.
Welcoming already running projects and existing propositions into its fold, the Financial Services Office is currently working on several major transformations in the areas of risk and regulation, technology, strategy and business transformation, IFRS 17, open banking, cybersecurity, and data and analytics.
“Having a dedicated, multi-disciplinary team in place is critical in assisting financial services clients with the complex challenges they are facing,” said EY Oceania financial services leader Grant Peters.
