Is there a need for a new ethos in banking?

Trust between public opinion and the banking world is largely broken. Why?

This is mainly because banking culture was at its core fundamentally self-serving and that some banks and bankers acted irresponsibly. This was particularly epitomised through the 2008-2009 crises that caused extreme damage to our reputation. Not that other sectors are free from troubles, but our business has certain specificities: we talk about money, our products are complex, the fact that they are not necessarily appropriate for a given customer is not immediately visible and so on, so that the question of trust is even more crucial than in other industries.

But, has this issue been tackled?

Partially, yes. We bankers have tried to explain our usefulness in society better and at the ABBL level we intend to continue these efforts. Legislators and regulators have started to sanction offenders more strongly and to impose a stricter regulatory framework. But all this has not helped to rebuild trust. Because it didn't get to the heart of the matter.

So, if efforts to rebuild trust have not been enough, what should be done?

We have to refocus on the key social purpose of banking, which is to produce economic and social prosperity for all our stakeholders. We are there to create economic value in a way that also creates value for society. This is our ethos.

Do you see momentum for this?

Yes, I see it in the advent of sustainable finance and digitalisation. Finance has been chosen as the lever to support and finance the sustainable and digital transformation of our societies. Today, we see sustainability through the lens of the complex regulatory framework, which is imposed on us. I do not say that is not a real challenge or a real issue. We should be more of an enabler and not just a gatekeeper of whom will in the future have access to finance or not. And we can regret that other levers are not fully used. But still we should me more proud of the impact we can have on our world's future. Identically, we can capitalize on the digitalisation, artificial intelligence and so on, if we can prove that thanks to values such as prudence, accountability, and accuracy, we have in our DNA, these topics are in safer hands in the banking sector than in others.

How do your members respond to this issue?

We are spreading the word in the circle of our members through our Sustainability Committee and working groups and the guidelines on CSR and sustainable finance we publish. These committees and working groups are very dynamic and that we see a keen interest of our members for advice and sharing good practices. Our members understand that instituting a sustainable ethos starts with leadership and the tone from the top. But that the challenge is also to instore a sense of ownership and collective responsibility at all employees' levels.