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A new report from a House of Lords Committee claims that a “𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱” 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 from the regulators needs to be addressed & the leadership of the FCA and PRA need to do more to “𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀”. https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/697/financial-services-regulation-committee/news/207595/culture-of-risk-aversion-among-financia

On the windswept coastal path in North Cornwall[i], between Trebarwith Strand and Tintagel, are abandoned quarries carved into the cliffs[ii]. From the 15th to early 20th century workmen excavated slate for sills, tiles and walls. Some of the stone did not travel far, building the hedges that divide local fields and the stiles that staddle them. Today these undulating crossings are worn smooth by the tread of feet over hundreds of years. Quiet sentinels of long forgotten pas

➡️ Is knowledge of social psychology valuable to understanding the performance and resilience of companies? ➡️ Is corporate culture a key differentiator and important to an organization’s results and an investor’s asset selection? ➡️ Is it vital to be curious, keep learning and to bring together different areas of expertise and academic disciplines? Of course you would expect me to say yes. It’s my confirmation bias. And you may think it’s fluff, and not important when compar

𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞 – “𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭” In 11 days time the final PRA and FCA requirements on Operational Resilience come into force (for financial services firms). Doubtless everyone has now dotted their I’s & crossed their T’s, on t

A Key Financial Services Summit Earlier this month I went to a key Financial Services Summit in London[i] - focused on the topic that the regulators tell us is a critical risk at the root cause of nearly all crises, failures, scandals and conduct issues. Not only that – the subject has proven itself to be existential for some Banks, leading to institutional collapse, bailout or takeover[ii]. To add even more salience and urgency the topic is also central to performance, resil

Lean into your boots as it’s going to get bumpy. ACT 1.0 – Back on top The first snows of the season have fallen silently over the mountains, jagged peaks turned to ghostly silhouette. Sounds muffled, air brittle. The intrepid strapped into their boots, clicked down on bindings, breath misting the early light. Pristine slopes awaiting. Anticipation heightened by an extended wait. Seventeen long years since they have been allowed to ski from this upper station[i]. But who ar

On the 14th November 2024 the UK Government issued a Call for Evidence on it’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This coincided with the Mansion House speech of Rachel Reeves in which she noted that many of the regulatory changes introduced to eliminate risk after the financial crisis had “gone too far” and had led to unintended consequences. Although she did not reveal a raft of de-regulatory measures, the speech seems to set the tone for how the go

Last week I visited Edinburgh. It brought back memories of 30 years ago, when I would stay in the old Scandic Crown on the Royal Mile, drink far too many pints of heavy[i] in the Grassmarket and regret it the following morning as the taxi rumbled over the cobbles on the way out to the Royal Bank of Scotland in the Gyle. For some reason that recollection has triggered suppressed images of unexpected explosions. On Wednesday afternoon I gave a presentation on the use of beh

I spent an excellent few days on the sun dappled streets of the Big Apple last week. In theory I was there for the New York Fed's Governance and Culture Reform Conference[i] and surrounding events. In reality it was (also) to catch up with friends and colleagues, and because I enjoy the craziness. My main take-aways were: Expensive Coffee “I don’t need an inspirational quote – I need coffee” Wow – it’s an expensive place[ii]. Using my own FlatWhiteCoffee Index© , you are

san ten ichi-ichi Hong Kong – March 2011 At 1.50pm on Friday 11th March 2011 I was on the Hong Kong trading floor, lunch had just finished and my thoughts were already turning towards beers after work and the coming weekend. Suddenly there was a commotion, as urgent messages started coming through on the squawk boxes and telephones. The Tokyo office was violently shaking in an earthquake. Whilst tremors were not unusual this one was sufficiently alarming for our Japan b

Pyramids I arrived in New York this May to the news that it was sinking into the sea[i]. Apparently the skyscrapers and other more prosaic buildings weigh the equivalent of 140 million elephants and this is pushing the Big Apple into the sauce at a rate of 1 to 2 mm a year[ii]. By the calculations provided to me by Microsoft Bing that is equal to the mass of 11.6 billion humans, being 1.4 times the current population of the world. So presumably if everybody went to live in

(Suppositions on the Sounds of Silence, Silvergate, Silicon Valley, Signature, and the Suisse[i]) “Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping, Left it’s seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains - within the sound of silence”[ii] [iii] Stop what you are doing now, turn off Simon & Garfunkel on the radio and listen carefully to the ambient sound. Can you hear it? Just b

I recently visited the Netherlands. A double Dutch pleasure in both being able to sit in an Amsterdam Café with oliebollen[i] or appeltaart, and because it is at the leading edge of applied behavioural science in Banking. Neither of these seems to rank highly in the Tripadvisor Top 10, nor on the itineraries of the 18 million annual visitors. They don’t know what they are missing. As I walked out from my hotel on the first morning and narrowly missed being run over by a car

I have an (other) admission to make. My tendency to misbehaviour is now recorded on a Global Regulator’s website. That should be making me nervous, albeit I am not alone as a Banker whose waywardness has been well documented by the authorities. If it’s any consolation I did self-report. As noted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York[i], when I go and watch my favourite rugby team I am mild mannered and sit amongst supporters from both sides. When we score the celebration

In the BC era (Before Covid) my fun daily commute involved a drive to the local station, followed by a train and tube journey into London, during which I would dial-in to pay the parking charges and register my car. Occasionally on the return train journey I would realise I had forgotten to pay and approach the car park with sweaty palms and trepidation. Then, with a sense of relief, I would see that no penalty notice was stuck to my windscreen and drive home, conveniently ov