The Risk to the CEO’s Reputation

The bizarre events at the helm of Nat West have provoked much thought about the behaviours expected at the very top of business and the consequences of not meeting lofty ideals.

Whilst I do not claim to know what exactly happened, we do know that one of banking’s most capable CEO’s, Dame Alison Rose, has lost her job for leaking confidential client information to a BBC journalist. We also know that the client in question was Nigel Farage. I certainly do not share his political instincts but, as much as it pains me to write this, he deserves the protection of one of the principles of the banking profession – confidentiality.

It’s clear that as one rises to the top of the corporate ladder the scrutiny of the media becomes more intense. The search for hypocrisy becomes laser-like as the fourth estate looks to knock the people it has built up from their perch.

So why did Dame Alison share a client secret over dinner?

Who knows! What we do know is that humans do not always behave in a logical fashion. A better question is why would a senior executive behave in this manner?

As internal auditors we are unlikely to find the answer in the failure to train Dame Alison in the requirements of her bank’s data security protocols. I suspect she attended more than enough courses as did all her C-Suite colleagues.

I suspect the answer is closer to asking whether the C-Suite was ever encouraged to face their demons and the little voice in the head that says “Dont’t do it – you will regret it”. How often are the powerful individuals who lead our businesses required to reflect on the life dilemmas we all face (they are not only about breaching data secrecy but other conduct rules):-

• that dinner with a stranger where you want to establish your status and use a company secret as your currency;
• That momentary encounter with a celebrity where you want to prove that you are also cool (I am blushing to think of what I said to a BBC presenter at the recent IIA Awards dinner!);
• The sun drenched sneaky vacation with a “friend” who shouldn’t be there – who is going to find out (apart from the paparazzi in the bushes);
• The harmless minor investment that nobody will find out about as you share some innocuous information with distant family member;
• The acceptance of a ticket to the Rugby Union World Cup Final in Paris – after all as a member of the elite I need to be seen there – even if the ticket is provided by a competitor looking to poach my algo trading team;
• The plush dinner with a regulator to convince them to lower that fine and to discuss your new role the year after next as Global Head of Compliance – after all life is one great trade.

Hopefully readers of this article will never succumb to these behaviours (or get caught if they do) but we are all prone to our insecurities or arrogance or fear of missing out.

So let’s not recommend another training course but a reflective conversation with one’s conscience.