Matthew White, CEO of Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), explains how the regulator is trying to make it safer for financial institutions to expand into digital finance in the region.Speakers: Matthew White, CEO of VARA; Rajeev Barma, SVP and Head of Strategy, Digital Economy, Moody’s Ratings Host: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated Research:Decentralized Finance and Digital Assets – Global: 2024 Outlook: Digital finance slowly, steadily moves toward interoperability, standardizationDigital Economy – Global: Islamic finance's adoption of blockchain could be beneficial, but faces crucial barriers

Our analysts discuss which segments and loan types pose the largest risks to US banks and life insurers, and zero in on concentration risks in asset portfolios.Speakers: Evelyn Ocas Salazar, AVP-Analyst, Moody’s Ratings; Darrell Wheeler, VP-Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings; Stephen Lynch, VP-Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings, Hosts: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings; Michael Porta, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated Research:Banks – US: CRE survey loan-level analysis shows solid underwriting, high concentration riskBanks – US: Retained capital, strong liquidity are key credit buffers for CRE-concentrated banksLife Insurance — US: Commercial real estate risks still abound, especially in the office sector

Yuval Rooz, CEO of Digital Asset, discusses the use cases of blockchain in global financial institutions, exploring public, private, and public permissioned blockchains. Topics include addressing interoperability challenges with the Canton Network Pilot and transitioning blockchain from investment to real returns for institutions.

We discuss how differences in regional regulatory regimes and market structures affect life insurers’ allocations to private credit investments, and lay out those investments’ benefits and risks.Speakers: Benjamin Serra, Senior Vice President, Moody’s Ratings; Will Keen-Tomlinson, VP-Senior Analyst, Moody’s RatingsHost: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated research:Life Insurance – Cross Region: Regulation contributes to material differences in private credit allocationInsurance-Global: Insurers’ growing private credit investment brings more benefits than risks

Moody’s Ratings analysts explain why Japan’s regional banks are vulnerable to yield-curve steepening and predict strong loan growth, and higher funding costs, for India’s non-bank finance companies.Speakers: Kensuke Ogawa, Analyst, Moody’s Ratings;  C.J. Wong, AVP- Analyst, Moody’s RatingsHost: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated Research:Regional banks – Japan: Strong liquidity will mitigate increasing risks from rising ratesNon-bank finance companies – India: Credit fundamentals improving backed by strong economy amid rising funding costs

As the regulatory environment continues to evolve, US and European banks have sought regulatory capital relief by offloading the credit risk of loans they make via special types of transactions.Guests: Warren Kornfeld, Senior Vice President at Moody's Ratings; Nick Monzillo, VP-Senior Analyst at Moody's Ratings; Frank Cerveny, VP-Senior Research Analyst at Moody's RatingsHost: Aaron Johnson, VP-Senior Research Writer at Moody's RatingsRelated reports:Auto ABS - US: Credit-linked notes include risks not seen in typical auto ABS; issuance is risingBanks and Structured Finance – US: Risk transfer gives banks protection, but more capital is better; ABS implications varyBanks and Structured Finance – Europe: Output floor proposal could erode benefits of SRT for regulatory capital and risk management purposes

We talk to Joe Lyons of Bitsight about the growing risk from deepfakes in the age of GenAI. Speakers: Joe Lyons, VP, Cyber Risk & Ratings Research, Bitsight;  Abhi Srivastava, AVP-Analyst, Moody’s RatingsHost: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated Research: Digital Economy – Cross Region: GenAI-powered deepfakes introduce new and transformed credit risks

Shortening the settlement cycle is a complex undertaking for a clearing house and its members, but once the transition is complete, it will reduce counterparty risk.Speakers: Peter Nerby, Senior Vice President, Moody’s RatingsHost: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated Research:Exchanges & Clearing Houses – North America: Shift to T+1 settlement has near-term risks for securities firms but will benefit financial markets

Alternative asset managers seek removal of barriers to private markets for individual investors. Regulators are supportive but also wary of potential dangers.Speakers: Alexandra Aspioti, VP-Senior Analyst, Moody’s RatingsHost: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated Research:As individual investors drive growth in private markets, risks also rise

Companies have responded to weather-related losses and higher reconstruction costs with sharp increases in premiums and tighter policy terms, and some have exited high-risk regions.Speakers: Evelyn Ocas Salazar, AVP Analyst, Moody’s RatingsHost: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s RatingsRelated Research:Property & Casualty Insurance – US: Homeowners insurers aim to boost profits as weather-related losses, inflation take tollFor more, listen to our Muniland episode: Insurance crisis poses credit risks for hurricane-prone Florida and Louisiana