BANKING CONDUCT AND CULTURE A Permanent Mindset Change Disclaimer This report is the product of the Group of Thirty’s Steering Committee and Working Group on Banking Conduct and Culture and reflects broad agreement among its participants. This does not imply agreement with every specific observation or nuance. Members participated in their personal capacity, and their participation does not imply the support or agreement of their respective public or private institutions. The report does not represent the views of the membership of the Group of Thirty as a whole. ISBN 1-56708-174-6 Copies of this paper are available for US$25 from: The Group of Thirty 1701 K Street, N.W., Suite 950 Washington, D.C. 20006 Tel.: (202) 331-2472 E-mail: [email protected], www.group30.org BANKING CONDUCT AND CULTURE A Permanent Mindset Change Published by Group of Thirty Washington, D.C. November 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword................................................................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................................................vi Working Group.............................................................................................................................................................. vii Abbreviations....................................................................................................................................................................ix Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................................xi Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................................1 Section 1. Assessment of industry progress.......................................................................................13 Section 2. Lessons learned............................................................................................................................... 29 Section 3. Recommendations......................................................................................................................... 39 Section 4. An Evolving Journey....................................................................................................................47 Section 5. A Final Word.........................................................................................................................................51 References.........................................................................................................................................................................53 Group of Thirty Members 2018......................................................................................................................55 Group of Thirty Publications ......................................................................................................................... 59 BOXES Box 1. Definition of culture and conduct..................................................................................................1 Box 2. The Australian crisis...................................................................................................................................6 Box 3. Not just banks............................................................................................................................................... 10 Box 4. The investor view.......................................................................................................................................19 Box 5. Use of machine learning for culture and conduct surveillance by supervisors................................................................................................23 Box 6. Holding managers accountable..................................................................................................28 GROUP OF THIRTY Box 7. Lessons from other industries........................................................................................................31 Box 8. Skills and capabilities required of regulators................................................................ 36 Box 9. Training for lasting behavioral change ...............................................................................37 Box 10. A cultural balancing act.................................................................................................................. 45 Box 11. Managing machine conduct risk............................................................................................... 48 Box 12. Conduct with colleagues and in personal lives......................................................... 49 Box 13. The false dilemma.................................................................................................................................. 50 FIGURES Figure 1. Elements of a unique bank culture........................................................................................2 Figure 2. Edelman Trust Barometer results by industry sector, 2006–2018.................................................................................................................3 Figure 3. Examples of high-profile and public conduct scandals since the financial crisis .................................................................................................................................4 Figure 4. Career destinations chosen by MBA students..........................................................7 Figure 5. Percentage of board and Executive Committee members in major financial services organizations who are women.........................................32 Figure 6. Design principles for conduct and culture measurement...........................33 Figure 7. Sample conduct and culture dashboards: Board view and detailed view................................................................................................................35 TABLE Table 1. Summary of 2015 recommendations....................................................................................13 BANKING CONDUCT AND CULTURE A Permanent Mindset Change v FOREWORD CULTURE AND CONDUCT: A PERMANENT MINDSET CHANGE Ten years after the global financial crisis, trust in This report, issued by the Group of Thirty (G30), banks remains low. seeks to support the process of reform in banking The industry has devoted significant time and culture and conduct that is underway across the industry. resources to understanding the causes of the break- Achieving this common goal requires ongoing board downs in culture that contributed to the crisis, and to and management focus and, to avoid “culture fatigue,” implementing reforms to address them. Yet through- needs to become a permanent, fundamental, and inte- out the last decade, the industry has continued to be gral part of how business is invariably done rather than dogged by failures of corporate culture, conduct, and being addressed through a series of ad-hoc initiatives. governance. The report outlines the progress made this far. At the same time, the scope of the issues around It identifies eight lessons learned and twelve recom- culture has grown. The last few years have shown mendations for further work and additional focus. In that no geography, size of institution or business unit addition, the report highlights future challenges emerg- is immune to the potential negative impact of inap- ing due to changing societal norms, technological propriate employee behavior, or of the unintended advances, competitive dynamics, and macroeconomic consequences of certain business and human resources trends. We recognize that the sources and scope of practices (such as sales targets and compensation culture issues will continue to evolve, and so too must structures). Compounding the internal governance oversight and monitoring of bank culture and conduct. issues are the external factors that have impacted and We hope the G30’s multiyear focus on gover- influenced norms and behavior. nance, supervision, boards, conduct and culture has Fundamentally, getting culture and conduct right supported the collective goals of supervisory and is not merely a supervisory requirement. It is neces- banking communities, and intend this latest study to sary for banks’ and banking’s economic and social add meaningfully to the debate on and evolution of sustainability. best practices in the sector. Jacob A. Frenkel Tharman Shanmugaratnam Chairman, Board of Trustees Chairman Group of Thirty Group of Thirty GROUP OF THIRTY vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS On behalf of the Group of Thirty (G30), we would like No project of this magnitude can be accomplished to express our appreciation to those whose time, talent, without the committed effort of a strong team. The and energy have driven this project to a successful com- G30 extends its deep appreciation to the Project pletion. We would like to thank the members of the Director, Elizabeth St-Onge, and to Yoonju Kim, of Steering Committee and Working Group on Culture Oliver Wyman, who worked tirelessly toward our and Conduct, who guided our work at every stage and goal with diplomacy and tact. We thank them for added their unique insight. The intellect and collective their contributions to the analysis and formulation experience