Senior industry expert discusses private markets and financial stability
A senior alumnus of the University of Leeds has returned to campus to discuss the implications of the growing role of private markets in the global financial system.
On Friday 20th February, Mark Hughes, an independent board member at UBS and former Group Chief Risk Officer at Royal Bank of Canada, delivered a guest lecture to Leeds University Business School students.
The session focused on how the expansion of private credit markets is reshaping the financial landscape, with particular attention given to financial stability and systemic risk. Drawing on current regulatory thinking, the discussion encouraged students to consider how risks can develop beyond traditional banking and why understanding connections across the financial system is increasingly important.
Reflecting on the lecture, Mark Hughes said:
Private markets play an increasingly important role in financing the real economy, but their growth also raises important questions about transparency, interconnectedness and how risk is distributed across the financial system. These are critical issues for the next generation of finance professionals to understand.
The lecture was followed by an interactive discussion, during which students reflected on the challenges faced by regulators and financial institutions as private markets continue to grow in scale and influence.
Commenting on the event, Professor Danilo Mascia, Deputy Director of the International Banking Institute, said:
Events like this allow students to engage directly with real-world debates shaping modern finance. Discussions around private markets and systemic risk are especially valuable, as they highlight the importance of understanding how financial innovation and market growth can affect stability across the system.
Mark Hughes graduated from the University of Leeds with an LLB in 1979 and later completed an MBA in Finance at the University of Manchester. He spent more than 35 years at RBC across Canada, the US and the UK, before retiring in 2018. He is now a visiting scholar at Leeds University Business School and serves on the Board of Directors of UBS, where he chairs the Risk Committee.
The visit was organised by the International Banking Institute and the Accounting and Finance Department at the University of Leeds.
