Tackling the causes, not the symptoms

In response to the recent Financial Times article, “Banks 20 Years Behind in Risk Management” , Keith writes:

These findings are no surprise to some of us who have been arguing that banks have spent the last 3 – 4 years trying to address the symptoms of their problems- and not the causes. Introducing “box ticking” processes, tightening policies, increasing (or introducing) training in risk management disciplines merely responds to the past problems and current regulations. It does nothing to address the future direction of banking and the ethical issues that continue almost unabated (Barclays, HSBC, Standard & Chartered).

The solution has to be to proactively focus on the risk culture of the organization and the inherent behaviors that have grown up as a result of inappropriate values and questionable executive vision. A better and balanced tone from the top, communicated correctly to all staff, reinforced throughout all the bank’s conduct, will go a long way to address the causes of our banking issues.