City Misconduct Rises
City Misconduct Rises
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has published the results of its first mandatory census into misconduct. It found that incidents of misconduct are up by two thirds during the last three years. The review indicates 7.2 incidents per 1000 employees compared to 4.2 in 2021. Maybe speaking up is improving. A quarter of the misconduct related to bullying. A fifth related to discrimination. Action was taken in respect of 43 per cent of complaints. Penalties were rarely levied. Risk Audit will be exploring how to manage a toxic culture during our Audit of Culture course on 19th November. We will also be including a review of the FCA’s pronouncements on misconduct during our Regulatory Update webinar on 5th December.
HSBC Joins Chinese Payments System
HSBC Hong Kong used SWIFT’s SIBOS conference as the opportunity to announce it was joining China’s payments system. The bank will become a direct participant in CIPS (the China Cross-Border Inter-Bank System). The bank is responding to customer demand amid fears that the US could weaponize its currency payments mechanism against China. SWIFT set the precedent of banning a number of Russian banks from its systems. One hundred and thirty five countries are already using CIPS. It is interesting to note that the system is inter-faced to SWIFT.
Outgoing Morgan Stanley’s CEO’s Perks
James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s ex-CEO and outgoing Chairman, will continue to be paid by the bank. He will receive a salary of $400,000 per annum, a car and driver and an office as he switches to the role of special advisor. Gorman will step down as chairman at the end of the year after having quit as CEO in 2023. Current CEO, Ted Pick, will also assume the role of chairman. An interesting quirk of US corporate governance practice.
Oaktree Bank Under Administration
Banca Progetto, an Italian bank backed by Oaktree Capital Management, has been placed under judicial administration. The Milan prosecutor has found evidence that the bank has been making state-guaranteed loans to the mafia, or more precisely the ‘Ndrangheta. The bank is also accused of breaching money laundering regulations. It is curious to note that no management nor employees are currently under investigation.