Experience Stern | News & Events

Excerpt from Financial News -- "What ethical and cultural workshops will accomplish is unclear. Such events have a history of being of little value but, with some effort by the Fed, the forthcoming ones could be quite significant. The Fed could begin by defining the standards it wants banks to meet. These should begin with the requirement that all banks strive to achieve a culture that values high ethical conduct and insists on treating customers fairly. The effort to do this is auditable to a reasonable degree. The Fed could say it will provide a “safe harbour” for banks – that is, will hold them blameless as institutions – if they can demonstrate they have adopted and are enforcing policies that make unit heads and mid-level management responsible for the integrity of products and marketing and sales procedures. Products or procedures that involve potentially injurious conflicts of interest, or rely on loopholes or technicalities, need to be nipped in the bud."

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