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Financial Services

In today’s dynamic business environment, organisations face a multitude of economic challenges and opportunities. As a leading economic consultancy, we specialise in providing strategic guidance tailored to the financial sector.

We specialise in providing strategic guidance tailored to the financial sector

We have helped both public and private clients in critical areas within this sector such as insurance, payment systems, consumer credit, market analysis, and regulatory compliance. Below we provide a list of some of the work we have done in these areas:

Insurance

  • We examined the current state and anticipated future developments of distribution channels in various insurance products, including insurance-based investment products and motor insurance for the Italian National Association of Insurance Providers (ANIA).
  • We analysed the drivers of demand and supply for different distribution channels and considered the expected impact of IMD2 and emerging technology for AXA SA.

Payment Systems

  • Our work for Mastercard has involved critiquing the European Commission's impact assessment of proposed changes to interchange fees, assessing the impacts of different scenarios for interchange fees and assessing card and scheme separation proposals.
  • Some of our work for the Payment Service Regulator (PSR) has involved assessing the number of ATMs in the UK that might close following a fall in the interchange fee and several secondments working on the PSR’s key policy areas.

Financial Markets

  • For the World Gold Council, we analysed the relationship between gold price volatility and futures positions
  • We acted as personal advisors to the Citywire Financial Publishers providing an insight into quantitative easing.
  • We conducted an impact evaluation of the AIFMD on the private equity industry for Invest Europe.
  • For the Jersey Finance, we analysed the effectiveness and efficiency with which pensions and other institutional assets are managed.

Consumer Credit

  • We were commissioned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to assess the likely cost and market impacts of the transfer of the consumer credit regime to the FCA and a cost-benefit analysis s on the transfer of the regulation of consumer credit to the FCA from the OFT. 
  • Several of our employees have been seconded to support the (FCA), with one of the commissions involving a credit card market study to assist the FCA gain a better understanding of the supply side of the credit card market.
  • For the Elevate Credit International Limited, we examined alternatives to the High-Cost Short-Term Credit markets.

Regulatory Compliance

  • Our work for the FCA in this area has ranged from a cost-benefit analysis of the FCA's implementation of MiFID to providing training courses on ‘Regulating for access to networks and facilities’.
  • Some of our work for European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has included compliance cost analysis of the impact of ESMA's proposals related to the Market Abuse Regulation, Market Abuse Regulation data gathering and cost analysis, and an analysis of the Technical Standards ESMA had drafted with respect to the implementation of the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation.
Get in touch with us

We specialise in providing strategic guidance tailored to the financial sector

We have helped both public and private clients in critical areas within this sector such as insurance, payment systems, consumer credit, market analysis, and regulatory compliance. Below we provide a list of some of the work we have done in these areas:

Get in touch with us

Key Contacts

Please feel free to reach out to our experts if you have any questions.

Dr John Spicer

Director and Managing Consultant

Deborah Drury

Managing Consultant

Dr Andrew Lilico

Executive Director and Principal

Dive into our practice areas

Price Controls & Regulation
Effective regulation of public services and infrastructure industries.
Competition Policy & Litigation Support

We specialise in providing research input and expert analysis to assist our clients in legal cases

Cost of Capital

We have consistently delivered high-quality results, enabling our clients to make informed decisions

Impact Assessment, CBA & Policy Evaluation

Economics plays an important role in understanding the implications of new government policies, regulatory requirements

Economics Training Courses

We provide economics training courses to regulators, companies, consumer organisations and government departments.

Macroeconomic & Political Analysis

Specialises in providing extensive macroeconomic and political analysis services, offering valuable insights to our clients.

Econometrics, Modelling & Quantitative Analysis

Econometrics involves estimating mathematical models to represent and describe real-world economic relations.

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Professional regulation

Healthcare professionals are the driving force behind the delivery of high-quality care. Outcomes can be affected by external structures and systems as well as individuals’ training and incentives. Economic regulation is one tool that can assist healthcare regulators discern between contextual, clinical and competency risks facing a healthcare profession and its workforce, and develop targeted and cost-effective regulation and training. Our work includes:
  • A seminal assessment of the risks in domiciliary social care and options for revalidation and training to address these risks for the Department of Health, in the context of the Government’s White Paper on non-medical healthcare regulation.
  • Similar assessments of the risks and options for revalidation to address these risks for the General Optical Council; the General Dental Council; and the General Chiropractic Council.
  • A cost-benefit analysis of options for continuing professional development (CPD) for the General Dental Council.
  • Cost-benefit analysis of regulation models for optical businesses for the General Optical Council.

Policy development and impact assessment

As societies and technologies change, it is vital to understand and test the value of medical innovations and new care models. Our expertise in impact assessment and wider understanding of health- and social care markets enable us to advise policy-makers and funders how to prioritise policies and interventions needed to support the delivery of health and medical care. Our work includes:

  • Assessment of the economic, social and innovation impact of Novartis UK. We also undertook as similar study for Novartis Netherlands.
  • Analysis of regulatory models of telemedicine for the General Medical Council.
  • Assessment of the value and savings attributable to Look Ahead’s integration social care and housing model.

Intellectual property and pricing

We understand the importance of protecting intellectual property in pharmaceuticals and incentivising innovation, and the need to provide cost-effective access to medicines and healthcare. We advise on the design and impact of intellectual property policies and payment and reimbursement systems within the challenges and opportunities of a European and global pharmaceuticals market, applying learning from other regulated sectors. Our work includes:

  • For Merck Sharp and Dohme, an assessment of the practice of importing patented medicines across Europe, and the implications for the market of increased transparency of prices.
  • We delivered a study to Efpia on the impacts on the EU of the exclusion of patent extension provisions, in respect of medicines, from the forthcoming EU-MERCOSUR free trade agreement.
  • We produced a report for EuropaBio on the costs to the European patented medicines sector from a change on the current SPC framework.
  • For the European Patent Office, we studied the economic effects of introducing a grace period in Europe using as the main source of information a survey of those that have filed for patent protection in Europe the US and Japan.
  • Amongst our many projects on parallel trade, we have done four major studies for the European Commission on aspects of parallel trade relating to patient safety and counterfeiting, in both the medicines and medical devices sectors.