Today we continue a conversation at the New York Fed on reforming culture and behavior in the financial services industry. The theme of today’s conference is “Expanding the Dialogue,” and we’re applying that theme in a number of ways:
First, we’re seeking different points of view:
- We’ll open the conference with a talk by a distinguished moral philosopher, Onora O’Neill, about the purpose of banking. If you haven’t heard Baroness O’Neill’s views on trustworthiness, I recommend taking nine minutes to listen to her 2013 TedTalk.
- Chief Executive Norman Chan of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Deputy Governor Minouche Shafik from the Bank of England will then join New York Fed President Bill Dudley to provide a global view of culture and behavior in financial services. They will discuss the powerful role of incentives and accountability in shaping banker conduct, and the opportunities for international cooperation in the official sector in support of reform.
- We’ll also hear from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. He will address the importance of creating a culture of doing the right thing, which includes encouraging all members of an organization to speak up when they observe wrongdoing.
Second, we’re building on the lessons learned from our prior two conferences. For example, it has been said repeatedly that governance is key to reforming culture. This year, we’re including more non-executive directors in the conference, as well as representatives from the investor community. We are focusing on how they can contribute to establishing and maintaining an ethical culture in financial firms.
Finally, we’re seeking to foster greater awareness about our work. All of this year’s conference is open to the press. And, as you’ve seen over the last week and a half, we’ve used Medium to broaden the conversation by having our panel moderators preview their discussions.
My colleagues and I are looking forward to today’s discussion, which we hope will lead to even greater industry commitment to reforming the culture of financial services and to improved dialogue across the public and private sectors.
This article was originally published by the New York Fed on Medium.
The views expressed in this article are those of the contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the New York Fed or the Federal Reserve System.
