The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) hosted the second Annual Conference for Independent Non-Executive Directors (“the Conference”) today (Wednesday) in Hong Kong.
Building on the success of the inaugural conference last year, this year’s Conference was a continuation of the HKMA’s effort to equip and empower Independent Non-Executive Directors (INEDs) to perform a more effective role on the boards of banks in Hong Kong. The Conference was attended by nearly 80% of all INEDs of the banking industry.
At the Conference, Mr Norman Chan, Chief Executive of the HKMA, remarked that “Promoting sound culture in the banking sector is important because regulation and supervision are more effective in prescribing what constitutes unacceptable behaviours or outcomes, but much less so in defining and driving what is good and desirable. A bank and its staff must internalise good culture and values in such a way that they behave properly not because they are afraid of being caught and punished by the supervisors or the law enforcement agencies but because they think it is unethical to do otherwise.”
Ms Julie Dickson, Member of the Board of Directors of Dubai Financial Services Authority and former Superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada, delivered a keynote speech on “Implementation of Sustainable Culture”. She took the view that INEDs play an important role in driving the sustainability of sound culture in banks. They can be lulled into a false sense of security that culture is sound, fail to react quickly enough when problems are identified, and may also underestimate forces leading to cultural weakness. Therefore, they should always stay alert and should not understate their responsibility in upholding sound culture in banks.
Ms Alison Cottrell, Chief Executive Officer of the Banking Standards Board (BSB) in the United Kingdom, also shared her view on the “Assessment of Bank Culture”. Ms Cottrell observed that there is no one template of what a ‘good’ bank culture should look like; each firm will have its own identity and culture reflecting its own history, leadership, people and many other factors. Despite these differences, banks can use comparative data and evidence to help them assess and manage their own culture and raise standards across the sector. She described how this approach is being undertaken in the UK banking sector, with the BSB providing Boards with objective and comparative evidence on different parts of their organisation, over time and relative to other firms.
Other speakers attending the Conference included –
- Mr Richard Lacaille, Global Chief Investment Officer of State Street Global Advisors, who talked about short-termism in the banking industry. He highlighted the need to address possible causes for short-termism including unsustainable culture, inappropriate incentives, poor governance, and outside pressure.
- Mr Ericson Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Ping An Technology, who spoke on how technology like blockchain, cloud computing and artificial intelligence would impact financial services. He was joined by Mr Raymond Chan, Executive Director (Banking Supervision) of the HKMA, who shared his views on the application of RegTech and SupTech, as well as how INEDs could play a role in helping banks cope with technological changes.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
3 October 2018
Mr Norman TL Chan, Chief Executive of the HKMA, gives remarks at the Conference.
Ms Julie Dickson, Member of the Board of Directors of Dubai Financial Services Authority and former Superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada, delivers her keynote speech to the INEDs attending the Conference. Mr Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA moderates this session.
Mr Richard Lacaille, Global Chief Investment Officer of State Street Global Advisors, gives his view on short-termism in banking industry.
Ms Alison Cottrell (middle) and Mr Mikael Down (left), Chief Executive Officer and Director of Policy and Analysis of the Banking Standards Board in the United Kingdom respectively, talk on assessment of bank culture.
Mr Ericson Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Ping An Technology (middle) discusses how technology like blockchain, cloud computing and artificial intelligence would impact financial services. Mr Raymond Chan, Executive Director (Banking Supervision) of the HKMA (left) shares his views on the application of RegTech and SupTech.
