This interesting write up starts off… “After all that has happened over the past few years……”. I would say, ‘still very much happening’, sadly.
While symptoms appear in different ‘formats’, at the core of it all, the problems remain. The latest blatant violation on AML-front is one such symptoms.
Too much focus on something less important, such as bonus cap, is a good example how a typical ‘scratching’ on the surface is the natural reaction.
- It is wrong to say working extra-long hours is linked to bonus. Working smartly can still enable a banker to reach levels they call ‘exceeding expectations’ on his/her score card, which is anyways ridiculed as totally ‘un’balanced and subjective.
- Working late: The health cost and the intangible impact on community is beyond our wildest dreams. It is sad though banks have strict working hours for their customers, they are not so strict when it comes to their own ‘working hours’ !
- The author goes on to remind us (esp bankers/ex-bankers and others related to ‘manage’ banks, such as regulatory/govt/admin/audit,etc), it is ‘one of most loathed & least trusted professions’. One of the pillars on which a banking institution stood, used to be TRUST!
A ‘boring bank’ may not be a good bank, as we observed recently, in the AML controversy. One of the banks, known for its consistent quarter-on-quarter performance over decade, has been termed as ‘boringly predictably’. But their name came up in AML too.
- Sustainable banks exist, says author. Do we really have
‘Can bankers be sustainability leaders of the future?’ asks the author…
- At the macro level, all talk about financial inclusion. But at the ground level the focus is on something else, quarterly performance to risk management, with financial inclusion looked at as more of a compliance requirement.
Banks and regulators need to look at ways and means to instil sustainability as one of the core-values at all levels. Not impossible, but not easy…
That would be holistic banking or karma yoga in Banking.
What makes a good bank? | Guardian Sustainable Business | Guardian Professional
