The Banking Standards Board (BSB) was a body established in April 2015 in the United Kingdom, to promote good practice among banks and building societies. The original idea for the body came from the work of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards [1] and the subsequent Lambert Review,[2] which called for a new type of organisation, different from traditional regulators, that would look at banking standards, culture and the root causes of poor behaviour. The BSB was renamed the Financial Services Culture Board and then closed in June 2023.[3]
Governance
editThe organisation was funded by the banks, but acts independently of them through its mission and a board composed primarily of non-bankers.[4] The first chair of the BSB was Dame Colette Bowe. She was appointed by a selection committee chaired by the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney. She was followed as chair by Susan Rice (banker) in 2019.[5] Sir Brendan Barber served as vice-chair, and Alison Cottrell was the CEO of the organisation.
The work of the BSB
editThe BSB conducted annual assessments of culture and behaviour at UK banks and building societies, and reported publicly on the state of the sector in its annual reports.[6][7][8][9][10][11] The organisation's approach to assessing culture combines methods from economics, behavioural science, data science and ethnography,[12][13][6] and has been described by Gillian Tett as "anthropologists with big data trying to use ways to track what bankers are doing, what they're feeling, to work out whether they have a good culture or not".[14]
The BSB's work has highlighted gaps between ethical behaviour and banking activities,[15] pressure and stress in the banking system,[16][17] and concerns with speaking up.[16][18] Beyond the UK banking sector, elements of the BSB's culture assessments have also been conducted for Irish banks,[19] at the New York Federal Reserve [20] and in insurance markets.[21][22]
Criticism
editMembers of the Treasury Committee examining the work of the BSB in 2018 criticised the slow progress made on fixing the UK's banking culture.[23][24]
References
edit
- ^ "Banking Commission publishes report on changing banking for good - News from Parliament". UK Parliament.
- ^ "Banking Standards (Lambert Review)" (PDF).
- ^ Allesch-Taylor, Professor Stefan (18 October 2023). "Why did City banks quietly shutter their ethics watchdog?". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Meet the board".
- ^ "Dame Susan Rice appointed as Chair of the Banking Standards Board". 17 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Annual Review 2018/2019 Chairman's Foreword".
- ^ "Annual Review 2018/2019 Explained". 1 April 2019.
- ^ "Annual Review 2017/2018".
- ^ "Annual Review Assessment Explained". 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Annual Review 2016/2017".
- ^ "Taking the measure of good corporate culture; Financial Times". Financial Times. 26 December 2018.
- ^ "#AS2018 C Moore & Q Zaman, How the BSB assesses 'fuzzy' human behaviour & culture concepts at banks" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "WORKSHOP ON CULTURE MEASUREMENT AND ASSESSMENT" (PDF). newyorkfed.org. 21 June 2017.
- ^ "Gillian Tett asks if banking culture has really changed". 28 August 2018 – via www.ft.com.
- ^ "City bankers battle with quandary of ethics versus career; Financial Times". Financial Times. 14 March 2017.
- ^ a b "A quarter of UK bankers say their job is bad for their health; Financial Times". Financial Times. 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Knowledge-sharing workshop: Wellbeing and Resilience (Panel video: Qamar Zaman)". 18 July 2018.
- ^ "Speaking up: small steps to big changes". FCA Insight. 23 July 2019.
- ^ "Reports". Irish Banking Culture Board.
- ^ "Banking Culture: The Path Ahead - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK". www.newyorkfed.org.
- ^ Kollewe, Julia (24 September 2019). "Lloyd's of London: nearly 500 workers suffered or saw sexual harassment in past year". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Lloyd's reveals depth of sexual harassment culture". BBC News. 24 September 2019.
- ^ "Work of the Banking Standards Board inquiry". UK Parliament.
- ^ correspondent, Kalyeena Makortoff Banking (13 November 2018). "Overhaul of UK's poor banking culture is slow, admits standards chair". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
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