What’s coming up next in shareholding disclosure?

Michelle Rowe profile image

One of our Shareholding Disclosure Service’s main points of difference is the regulatory expertise that develops and supports the system. We are delighted to welcome Senior Regulatory Reporting Specialist Michelle Rowe who recently joined Kaizen’s Shareholding Disclosure Team from a tier 1 investment bank. 

We caught up with her to find out about the latest in the shareholding disclosure space, and more about her background and career to date. 

What developments are we seeing in the world of shareholding disclosure?

We have seen a noticeable increase, since the COVID-19 global pandemic, in foreign investment restrictions and increased short selling position reporting. We are seeing this continuing into 2022; in the UK we have the introduction of the National Security and Investment Act (NSIA), in France there are restrictions in ownership of the renewable energy industry, and reforms in Australia regarding foreign direct investment (FDI). I believe we will continue to see these type of sensitive industry and foreign ownership reporting and pre-approval regulatory changes as the global economy strives to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

What makes shareholding disclosure so challenging?

The world of shareholding disclosures is a highly complex, pressured, challenging and at times a very stressful environment to work in, particularly when things go wrong. Things can be turned upside down very quickly when a disclosure is missed, incorrectly filed, or even triggered in unfamiliar territory. Trying to build monitoring systems in-house has been a considerable challenge – I have been a part of such projects. When you are trying to do this as a side project to your day-to-day role of complying with shareholding disclosure rules, it’s almost impossible and projects often fail.

I am excited to be working for a firm that has an impressive existing disclosure system, which even those key players within the banking sector struggle to achieve. Kaizen Reporting has a true depth of knowledge which is invaluable in this space.

Tell us a bit about your background…

It all started from completing a law degree and the drive to initially practice law. Completing my Legal Practice Course (LPC) at London’s Inns of Court helped steer me into the world of compliance, soon realising that I was much more focused on the corporate side of law and the regulations governing the business and financial sectors. Shortly after the completion of my LPC, I was lucky enough to land a position within compliance at tier 1 investment bank, Morgan Stanley. This was a fantastic learning experience and I started my career in shareholding disclosures there. I then went on to work at two other top tier investment banks, Barclays and Deutsche Bank.

Why did you join Kaizen?

The thought of moving away from my career of 14 years in investment banking compliance wasn’t an easy decision, but I very quickly knew it was the right one. This year I decided to seize the opportunity to work for Kaizen; I was excited to put all my in-house experience into making a difference and being able to share that experience with a large client base.

For me, Kaizen’s experienced team and its vision of continuous improvement was the main driver – to always change, evolve and improve.

It is exciting to be part of something which doesn’t want to simply provide a ‘tick box IT solution’, but one which wants to create a timeless solution for all types of clients, to interpret and automate its way past those never ending ‘grey’ areas. We want to have a positive effect on those shareholders who want to expand into new jurisdictions, new products, new business strategies, knowing that they will be fully compliant with the shareholding disclosure rules.