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uk: banking standards review February 10, 2014

Posted by Bradley in : self-regulation , add a comment

As the FCA publishes its thematic review of Transition Management (the activity with respect to which the FCA fined State Street UK) and stories about banks’ compliance failures and the financial consequences of those failures seem to be in the news on a daily basis, Sir Richard Lambert publishes a consultation paper as part of the Banking Standards Review initiated by “by the chairmen of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Standard Chartered and Nationwide.” Lambert says:

I am hoping for the widest possible response. I would like to hear from banks and building societies with UK operations; customers and consumer groups; professional bodies with members working in banks; bank staff and trade unions; the Bank of England, financial regulators and investors; politicians; and anyone else with an interest in banking in Britain.

The consultative document suggests that the proposed new organization and standards – which would be designed to turn banking into a profession, sensitizing financiers to the big picture and moral questions, and a standards body rather than a lobbying organization – should apply to foreign banks doing business in the UK as well as to UK banks.