16 October 2012

FT: BBA considers register to ban rogue bankers

UK bankers face the risk of being barred from their profession by an independent body if they misbehave, under new rules being weighed up by the main City bank lobby group in a bid to revive the battered reputation of the financial sector.

The British Bankers’ Association is looking at proposals to require all bankers to join an independent professional body in a similar way as doctors, lawyers and accountants. If bankers breach ethical or professional standards, they could then be struck off the register of members. This would go much beyond the Financial Services Authority’s register, which mostly applies to senior management or traders who can be fined and banned for more explicit wrongdoing.

Anthony Browne, BBA’s new chief executive, confirmed that a general register for bankers was one of the measures under debate to give an independent professional body the clout to uphold professional and ethical standards. Such a body would mirror similar institutions in other sector such as the British Medical Association for doctors or the Institute of Chartered Accountants, which admits members only after passing examinations and a period of work experience. It would likely be broader than the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the US, which licenses securities traders and requires them to pass exams before working in the sector.

The idea to set up a professional body has also been promoted by Barclays in the bank’s submission to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards – a parliamentary body chaired by conservative MP Andrew Tyrie with a view to changing the “culture of recklessness” in the banking sector. It comes as the sector is seeking to re-establish its reputation after a series of scandals have raised serious questions about banks’ culture even from within the industry.

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