The development and implementation of professional standards for UK bankers: a practitioner perspective

In October 2011, nine leading UK banks plus the Chartered Banker Institute founded the Chartered Banker Professional Standards Board (CB:PSB) to develop and implement professional standards to support the ethical awareness, customer focus and professional competence of individuals working in the banking sector. This was both a response to the Global Financial Crisis and anticipated significant public, policymaker and regulatory concerns about banking conduct and culture. This chapter describes, from a practitioner perspective, the establishment, development, achievements and challenges of the CB:PSB, discussing these within the context of wider debates over the meaning of terms such as ‘professional standards’ and ‘professionalism’, and whether banking as a sector could or should be considered as a profession. It also explores how a voluntary, self-regulatory initiative can support rather than attempt to replace, statutory regulation designed to enhance accountability and levels of conduct and culture by developing and implementing professional standards that seek to promote higher standards of knowledge, skill and expected behaviour for bankers.