The most stirring images from Covid-19 are of total calm. From London’s Square Mile to Kuala Lumpur’s financial district, the lockdown imposed a surreal, eerie quiet. In this silent upheaval, banking was thrust into the ‘new normal’.

As the health crisis unravels into a looming economic crisis, the Banking Insight team felt it was an imperative to present content that is current yet timeless in order to be of value to our members and banking at large. With this in mind, we upended our previous editorial direction and went back to the drawing board in order to present what you see today.

This edition of Banking Insight is the first to centre on a quatervois – a critical turning point in the industry – as the pandemic unfolds.

In a hyperconnected world, financial stakeholders are inundated with information, but not necessarily knowledge. This Covid-themed edition is devised as a companion for readers, zeroing-in on perspectives and transformations that must take place in financial institutions within the next six to 12 months.

While the end of the crisis is still a way off, our cover story, Steady Hands to Hold a Full Cup, critically assesses banking’s trajectory thus far and highlights trends that will shape the future. Coupled with our curated features on risk modelling, Agile implementation, cloud infrastructure, and remote work security, we encourage financial stakeholders to reimagine the industry in a post-Covid era.

As fraud takes on new dimensions, our exclusive interview with Tom Keatinge, Director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, is timely. The defence expert warns us that “the reality is that the job of securing the integrity of the financial system will just get harder, a job that it is critical governments support via fully engaging in public-private partnerships and collaborating with and supporting the banks.”

Giving us a birds-eye view of the effectiveness of government stimulus is Asia Business School’s Prof Hans Genberg, whose feature on Helicopter Money: How, for What, to Whom, and by Whom? details the methods, mechanisms, and banking’s role in achieving the desired economic objectives.

Globally, there is a resurgence in calls for sustainability to be a pillar of rebuilding economies. We explore the ‘why’ in WWF’s Sustainable Finance Must Be the Basis of Malaysia’s Post-Covid Future, and contemplate the ‘how’ in Corporate Social Performance & Credit Risk with new research presented by Dr Lutfi Abdul Razak, Prof Dr Mansor H Ibrahim, and Dr Adam Ng.

In an unprecedented crisis, there is no textbook response or crystal ball. The best strategy in times of acute volatility is quite simple – stay informed, be mindful, move flexibly.

Ambitious initiatives may win headlines, but incremental steps make the biggest difference.

With this in hand, I’m certain we will arrive at the future of our choosing.

The Editor