WOW—what a fantastic couple of days at the FRC Leaders’ Convention! A huge thank you to everyone who made it such an engaging and thought-provoking event. Thanks to Tom Borthen and your amazing team for organising such a great event. The level of discussion, debate, and shared insights was truly inspiring!

It was a privilege to host a panel on The Executive Track: Strategies for Compliance & Risk Leaders, joined by three outstanding leaders – Ian Belsham, Simon Haslam, and Roland Maessen – who have enjoyed incredibly successful careers, from early compliance roles into C-suite positions.

Some key takeaways from our discussion:

🚀 The evolution of leadership – how a risk and compliance background provides a strong foundation for navigating complexity at the highest levels.

💻 The balance of technical and commercial skills – moving from risk mitigation to opportunity enablement.

🌀 Career journeys are rarely linear – international experience, diverse firm types, and adaptability are key accelerators for leadership growth.

👶🏼 Future leaders – as FinTech and regulation continue to evolve, we are likely to see more CEOs and board members emerging from risk and compliance backgrounds.

From our conversation, it is clear that risk leaders are increasingly positioned not just as protectors of the business, but as enablers of strategic growth. Their ability to balance risk intelligence with commercial vision will be a defining leadership trait in the years ahead.

A huge thank you to FRC Leaders for creating an environment where industry leaders could connect, challenge perspectives, and explore what’s next for the sector. The energy in the room was incredible, and the quality of discussion – across panels, workshops, and networking – was second to none.

Looking forward to continuing these conversations beyond the conference. If you attended, I’d love to hear your key takeaways – what resonated most with you?