This event has now taken place but you can watch the video recording of it through our Youtube Channel, get to it by clicking the button below
When
Tuesday, April 27th from 6pm to 8pm UK timeWhere
Online symposium via Zoom.Format
There'll be a great line-up of speakers plus ample scope for discussion and debate.Why you should attend
This is an important symposium because:
- The Banking sector is at the very heart of our financial ecosystem. It has immense impact on the lives of billions of people around the world and even small imperfections in the sector can be detrimental to many
- The Banking sector was at the very heart of the cause of the Global Financial Crisis; and there remains a great deal of disagreement about whether the banking sector has been treated too favourably by regulators, policymakers, taxpayers and prosecutors during and since
- Bringing matters right up to date, there are allegations that even now there is malpractice, malfeasance, misconduct and mis-selling taking place within the sector
- Weâll be taking a look at evidence that suggests the regulatory approach to the banking is failing to drive the transformational reform that is so obviously needed
In particular, weâll be taking a close look at what the evidence from Violation Tracker tells us about the propensity of the banking sector to disregard rules and regulations in the pursuit of profits; and even when caught and fined for unethical and/or illegal activity, to simply carry on misbehaving.Â
See here and draw your own conclusions on whether the banks see being fined for infringements and violations as âa cost of doing business;â and whether the regulatory framework is succeeding in creating a financial sector that is worthy of our trust and confidence.Â
Furthermore, beyond the financial consequences to the banks caused by their own misconduct, there is also the financial consequences to the victims of their behaviour such as:
- Those that become prey to scammers and fraudsters due to lax banking controls
- Those that lose their business properties or even their family homes as a consequence of predatory banking conduct
- Those that lose life-changing amounts of money through mis-selling by banks
And even worse than that, there are the non-financial costs to be taken into account as well, with an estimated 10,000 suicides in the UK, Europe and North America directly attributable to the consequences of banking misconduct.Â
The overall conclusion is that the banking sector has a great deal to answer for and one must wonder whether banking governance is simply not fit for purpose and long overdue for a strategic overhaul.
We want banks to authentically serve society, rather than exploit it; and we believe that only through radical reform of the sector will it achieve its potential as a force for good in the world.
Here's the programme and timings so far...
—————————————-6:00pm BST—————————————-
Welcome to the symposium, introductions and initial exploration of the main issues;Â byÂ
Andy Agathangelou
 Founder, Transparency Task Force; Governor, Pensions Policy Institute; Chair, Secretariat Committee, APPG on Pension Scams; Chair, Secretariat Committee, APPG on Personal Banking and Fairer Financial Services
—————————————-6:20pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #1, for 10 minutes + 5 minutes discussion/Q&A
Kevin Hollinrake
MP for Thirsk and Malton
Co-Chair of the APPG on Fair Business Banking
—————————————-6:35pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #2, for 10 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A/Discussion by
Stuart Woollard
Managing Partner, OMS LLP
—————————————-6:50pm BST—————————————-
Short leg-stretch & comfort break
—————————————-7:00pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #3, for 10 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A/Discussion by
Professor Nigel Harper
Moody’s Analytics Awarding Body Board Member
Moody’s Group Retail Banking Academy International
—————————————-7:15pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #4, for 10 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A/Discussion by
Tarek Diwany
Director, Kreatoc Zest Ltd
—————————————-7:30pm BST—————————————-
The “Just a minute”-roundÂ
Inspired by the BBC Radio 4 programme, we have asked a selection of our attendees to spend just a minute sharing their thoughts on what has been covered during the symposium. But unlike the Radio 4 programme our speakers wonât be penalised for hesitation, repetition or deviation!
Speakers to be confirmed
—————————————-7:35pm BST—————————————-
General discussion and Q&A, 20 minutes
—————————————-7:55pm BST—————————————-
Final conclusions; and suggested next steps and close to the formal proceedings.
However, for those that want it…
8:00pm BST until 108:30pm BST
….informal, unstructured networking and informal conversation; a “fireside chat”
___________________________________________________________________
*The programme will continuously evolve so is subject to change.
Kevin Hollinrake MP
Co-Chair of the APPG on Fair Business Banking
Vice-Chair of the APPG on Personal Banking and Fairer Financial Services
Kevin is a British Conservative politician and businessman. He has been the MP for Thirsk and Malton since 2015.
He started Hunters Estate Agents in 1992, co-founding the business with John Waterhouse, and it is now one of the most successful and fastest-growing estate agencies in the UK. Hunters have over 200 branches nationwide including 30 in Greater London with gross turnover in excess of ÂŁ40m and approximately 1000 people employed throughout the network.
Kevin has been in property for more than 30 years, but after studying physics at Sheffield Hallam University he set up various businesses. “I sold everything from army surplus to mobile phones. At that time it seemed the best way to make a living.â
Then he joined Prudential, at the time the largest estate agency in Britain as a branch manager, initially in Haxby and later in Burnley, Lancs.
Five years later, in 1992, he and his original founding partner, John Waterhouse, started Hunters in Goodramgate.
Kevin was elected as the MP for Thirsk and Malton on 7th May 2015. In July 2016 he was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Lidington MP, Leader of the House of Commons.
In June 2017 he was re-elected as MP for Thirsk and Malton and in July he became PPS to the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In July 2019, he became PPS to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.Â
Kevin was re-elected for the third time as the MP for Thirsk and Malton in December 2019.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stuart Woollard
Managing Partner, OMS LLP
Stuart Woollard is Managing Partner of Organizational Maturity Services LLP and co-founder and Council member at the Maturity Institute (MI).
Stuart co-created OMINDEXÂŽ (Organisational Maturity Index) and leads pioneering work with the investment community to integrate âintangiblesâ (e.g. corporate culture, governance, human capital, and management systems) into investment decision-making, engagement and stewardship activities.
Stuart also advises business leaders on whole, human system diagnosis of organisational health using OMINDEXÂŽ. He has published research on human capital in international mergers and acquisitions, on the management of people in global contexts and has co-authored a book âThe Mature Corporation â a Model of Responsible Capitalismâ (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019).
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Professor Nigel Harper
Moody’s Analytics Awarding Body Board Member
Moody’s Group Retail Bank Academy International
Nigel is a HMRC former Retail Banking Specialist. His role was to investigate banking egregious tax avoidance schemes and other bank criminal activity. There is a great deal.
FCIB, Qualified ACIB, FCBI, Â Chartered Banker, MBA Banking, , and Awarding Body Board Member of Retail Banking Academy International and Examiner.
Since Nigel retired he is working as an independent Retail Banking Specialist and with the Police. He also meets in the House of Commons and Lords to promote his solution to the failed corporate governance in most banks. He has been in banking since 1971 and has witnessed the good, bad and plain ugly in banking.
Nigel has worked alongside Andrew Bailey, PCBS in 2012 where he gave evidence, and HMT.  His papers delivered to MPs have gained traction.
Nigel has recommended that a Controller for Banking and Professional Complaints Regulator are set up, with him leading. He has a lot of knowledge and hands of practical expertise about banking, regulation, corporate governance and lending and risk management.
He has spoken to APPG Fair Banking Committee and SME Alliance meetings and acted as an Expert Witness in the High Court for victims of Lloyds Banking Group.
FCIB, Qualified ACIB, FCBI, Â Chartered Banker, MBA Banking, , and Awarding Body Board Member of Retail Banking Academy International and Examiner.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tarek Diwany
Director, Kreatoc Zest Ltd
Tarek is a director at Kreatoc Zest Ltd. He has a background in derivatives markets, project finance and real estate investment. Tarek has worked as a product developer, consultant and researcher for institutional and private clients in the Middle East, Europe and South-east Asia and is the author of The Problem With Interest. He has assisted in the design of several private investment funds, advised on high profile banking and finance litigations, and been a frequent commentator for the BBC and other well-known media organisations.
Hello to you all,
I hope all is as well as can be with you and yours, and your colleagues, in this ongoing challenging time.
I am writing to suggest that you add to your platform of key changes in the UK, and other countries in which you are active, the creation of an Individual Investor organization (IIO) and a Financial Consumer Organization (FCO) using a method that has proven to be effective in U.S.
The creation of an IIO and/or FCO in any country using the method that has proven to be effective in the U.S. will solve almost every problem faced by financial consumers and retail investors in the country.
The method is simple. The government would pass a law creating the IIO and requiring public companies and mutual funds to post at the top of all emails they send to individual investors a one-line notice that invites them to join the IIO and links them to the group’s website sign-up/join page.
And the government would pass a law creating the FCO and requiring banks, insurance companies and trust companies to post at the top of all emails they send to their customers a one-line notice that invites them to join the FCO and links them to the group’s website sign-up/join page.
The law would set out the group’s mandate as educating retail investors, representing them in policy-making, and hiring staff lawyers to provide free legal advice. The law would also require that the group’s board be democratically elected by its members.
Based on the U.S. experience, likely 3-5% of retail investors would join the IIO, and likely 3-5% of financial consumers would join the FCO, if the annual membership fee was $10-20.
You can see more info about the IIO proposal at:
https://democracywatch.ca/question-and-answers-about-individual-investor-organization-iio/
and you can see more info about the FCO proposal at:
https://democracywatch.ca/question-and-answers-about-the-proposed-financial-consumer-organization
Please see the recent News Release from Democracy Watch about the 100,000+ Canadians calling on the PM and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to enact key measures to make Canada’s Big Banks help more during the COVID-19 crisis and after, at:
https://bit.ly/3dCyUej
As you will see at the end of the release, #3 in the list of key changes calls for the creation of the FCO, and #8 in the list calls for stronger enforcement measures across the board, with a link to the summary of key enforcement changes needed in Canada, which you can see at:
https://democracywatch.ca/backgrounder-weak-enforcement-of-financial-consumer-and-investor-protection-in-canada/
Hope this helps, and I hope you will add the IIO and FCO to the list of key changes you are proposing in the UK, and in other countries.
Take care and stay safe,
Duff Conacher, Co-founder
Cell: 416-546-3443
Democracy Watch
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