Professionalism, corporate governance and purposeful culture in banking

Peter McCormack

Chapter 6 in Corporate Governance and Culture in Financial Institutions, 2025, pp 171-198 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The work of professional banking institutes in the late 1880s and throughout much of the 20th century helped bankers to become professionals by supporting them with comprehensive vocational education that allowed them to provide a professional personal service to customers in branches across the country. This standard of professionalism, encapsulated in the banker–customer relationship (a relationship of trust and confidence), allowed them to become ‘pillars of the community’. A change in the structure of the banking marketplace, a shift to transactional cultures, a focus on profit maximisation and new cost-reducing technologies have, over a period of 40 years, all contributed to disconnect commercial banks from their customers – to the extent that the PCBS concluded that banking was not a profession. The reconnection of the commercial banking sector with its customers is in the national interest and requires the collaboration of policy makers, regulators, professional banking institutes and the bank's themselves – with new business models that should consider a commercial bank's higher social purpose.

Keywords: Banking; Professionalism; Governance; Culture; Training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035317899
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