Posted on by Nigel Ross-Scott

Press Release

GDPR gurus gather together at WMA Conference ahead of 2018 deadline

19th May 2017

As markets come to terms with the after-effects of the latest global ransomware attack, legal and compliance experts gathered for a full day of data protection presentations and panel discussions at the WMA’s sold-out GDPR conference.

The day-long event, held at WMA’s London headquarters in Finsbury Square, covered a host of data protection-related topics as financial services firms gear up for the introduction of new regulation in May 2018.

GDPR ushers in an era of wide-ranging data protection regulation, raising a slew of hot topics such as consent, transparency, privacy by design, data breaches and notifications, cyber-insurance, fines, international regulatory harmonisation, cross-border data transfers and protection; and, above all, accountability.

With only twelve months to go before the final implementation deadline, the conference covered topics including key immediate action points, the controller/processor contractual relationship under the new regulation, the overlap between GDPR and MiFID II regimes, enforcement trends and developments, as well as addressing the delegates’ data protection-related concerns and discussing remedies.

WMA’s lead person for GDPR, Giulia Lupato, said: “there are several key takeaways from today’s conference, each speaker has raised important elements for firms to consider. A lot of discussion centred around the use, storage and protection of client as well as employee data, amid the growing public awareness of the huge potential value of personal data”.

Liz Field, CEO of the WMA, noted many firms have been diligent with their preparation work ahead of the deadline. “More and more firms recognise that this is not an IT issue alone, but an issue that requires both company-wide education and awareness, as well as board-level buy-in,” she said.

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Notes for Editors

Contact

If you would like further information on this release or other press matters please contact:

Sheena Gillett, Head of PR and Communications at WMA on +44 (0)20 7011 9869, sheenag@thewma.co.uk or
Flame PR on +44 (0)20 3357 9740, WMA@flamepr.com

www.thewma.co.uk

Switchboard: 020 7448 7100

About the Wealth Management Association (WMA)

  • The WMA is the trade association for firms that provide financial advice and investment services to help individuals and families prepare for the future, today.
  • We represent 180 wealth management firms and associate members that provide a range of financial solutions including financial advice, portfolio management, as well as investment and execution services. They assist everyone from individuals and families, to charities and pension funds, all the way to trusts and companies.
  • WMA members firms look after over £825 billion of wealth for over 2.2 million retail investors.
  • WMA firms operate across more than 580 sites, employing over 27,000 staff.
  • These firms also run over 5.5 million client portfolios and carry out over 20 million trades a year.