Local Front - October 21 2019

California Governor Vetoes SB 127 

CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoes SB 127, which would have required state transportation agencies to create safer and better sidewalks, bike lanes and cross walks on state highways that run through communities when the agency is already doing work on those streets (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).

Los Angeles City Council Approves Directive

The LOS ANGELES City Council unanimously approves a directive to the city attorney to draft an emergency ordinance that would stop landlords from evicting tenants without sufficient cause, limit rent increases for the rest of the year and block evictions for failure to pay rent if recent increases were above the coming state cap. The proposed ordinance would need to pass another vote to become law (LOS ANGELES TIMES)

 

-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN

Jerry Brown in Spaaaaaace

By now we all know that former California Gov. Jerry Brown received his famous (or infamous if you ask Brown) nickname “Governor Moonbeam” from the equally notable – and equally curmudgeonly – Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko. But Brown may soon have the last laugh. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, current California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently said the weather satellite the Golden State plans to launch soon will bear the name of his predecessor. Newsom didn’t give a date for said launch, but given that Brown is 81 years old now, he might not want to wait too long. 

Birds of a Feather

Speaking of the late Mike Royko, it’s no secret that part of his indifference toward Jerry Brown was his even more pronounced disdain for California and what he saw as its goofy politics. Royko was nothing if not a grouch, the living embodiment of the old guy in your neighborhood screaming “you kids get off my lawn!” Which might explain why he was perpetually annoyed by the young, brilliant and oh-so-brash Jerry Brown of the 1970s. Royko died in 1997, long before Brown’s improbable rise in 2010 from the political junk heap to a second go around as governor and his continued ascension to international leader status in combatting climate change. Royko probably still wouldn’t be impressed, but he sure would have appreciated that Brown became just as crusty and cantankerous as he was along the way. 

Bird-Brained

Memo to anyone and everyone that is not African-American: using the N-word is strictly forbidden at all times and in any context. Just don’t do it. And yes, we’re looking right at you, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, as the New York Daily News reports, dropped that bomb during a radio interview in Albany last week. Cuomo was admittedly quoting a New York Times story that claimed Italian-Americans were once referred to by a variation of the N-word, but that didn’t stop folks from being angry with him anyway. It also surely distracted from his point, which was that Italian-Americans are also still subject to racism. That’s fair, but as indicated by the recent angry confrontation between his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, and a heckler who called him “Fredo” – an allusion to the weakest of the three Corleone sons in the movie “The Godfather” - there are some words best left out of your mouth.  

 

-- By RICH EHISEN

Bringing artificial intelligence into the risk management process

Are your financial risk management decisions informed by artificial intelligence? Increasingly, organizations face significant challenges when it comes to managing risk, but AI can help. What do you need to know? We tackled that topic recently when we teamed up with Gary Moore, Ally Bank’s Director of Data Security Options & Vendor Risk, for a webinar on “Embracing Disruption: How AI is Transforming Risk Management for Financial Services”—now available on-demand.

Addressing AI’s pitfalls

If you’ve held off on fully embracing AI, it’s understandable. AI is not without its own challenges. Take concerns that AI will impact jobs. While AI-powered risk management reduces the need for manual processes, when it comes to decision-making regarding risk, people bring emotional intelligence to the table, so they aren’t about to be made obsolete. In fact, the shift to AI will also create the need for new positions.

In addition, AI goes hand-in-hand with data, and with more data, comes more responsibility. Data security and privacy are top of mind concerns at financial institutions, doubly so when introducing AI into the risk management mix. Ally Bank’s Gary Moore speaks from experience.

He notes in the webinar that when it comes to leveraging AI for risk management, we have to “make sure we’re not introducing new risk as well.”

Approaching new technology with trepidation isn’t unusual. A FinExtra blog last year noted, “If we look at the AI and machine learning today, it seems that it is no different from graduating from the horse driven carriage to a car.” Sure, some were skeptical when horseless carriages were first introduced, but there’s no disputing that cars are the king of the road today. Likewise, the positive potential of AI is gaining speed across industry, especially when it comes to more proactive financial risk management.

Using AI to enhance risk assessments, due diligence and ongoing risk monitoring

During the webinar, some key factors were seen as drivers for adopting AI to support risk management. At the top of the list was globalization. As the global economy has grown, the spread of products, technology, jobs and consumerism around the world means that organizations are expanding as well. With this growth, comes more risk. While globalization is largely seen as the rising tide that lifts all boats, it has created a more complex regulatory landscape. In addition, because organizations are so reliant on these global connections, an economic downturn or political instability in one region of the world is more widely felt than ever before.

AI can help organizations untangle risk in numerous ways. During the webinar, we look at two areas that are benefiting from AI already:

• Automated risk monitoring that uses machine learning capabilities to surface potential risk red flags in near real-time
• Robotic process automation to accelerate risk assessments and third-party on-boarding due diligence

Curious? Keep exploring:

1. Watch the full on-demand webinar for more on what’s influencing financial risk management.
2. Take a closer look at AI-powered risk monitoring with LexisNexis Entity Insight.
3. Share this blog with your colleagues and connections on LinkedIn.