The Great Debate UK
from The Great Debate:
A blueprint to make banks behave
Banking integrity has become an oxymoron. Top bankers need to change this and take responsibility for tackling ethical issues. For this to happen, every part of the organization – from senior management to human resources managers to those on the trading floor and beyond – should be assessed according to the contribution it makes to promoting ethical values, not just the bottom line.
The investigations into the LIBOR rate-rigging scandal showed how commonplace bribery among dealers had become. For example, between September 2008 and August 2009 a single trader at the Royal Bank of Scotland had made corrupt payments to interbank brokers on 30 occasions, by means of risk-free transactions known as "wash trades."
While the likes of Barclays and RBS have acknowledged wrongdoings and vowed to change course, it’s no longer enough to mollify critics with soothing words, apologies and empty gestures.
That is why we at Transparency International are challenging banks to immediately initiate sustained industry-wide reforms. These reforms should have the clear commitment and buy-in of the most senior bank executives. A new generation of banking management is needed, one that is prepared to devote as much time and money to developing ethical standards as they once spent on circumventing them.
from The Great Debate:
Summers’ compensation intensifies reform doubt
The weekend revelation National Economic Council chief Lawrence Summers received almost $5.2 million in salary and other compensation last year from hedge fund DE Shaw and Co, and hundreds of thousands more in speaking fees from other banks, has dealt another blow to the administration's fast-waning credibility on financial reform.
Summers and protege Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have already attracted criticism for a strategy many commentators believe is unduly favorable to Wall Street.
