Different countries, cultures, banks, business units and people all have vastly different norms, values and attitudes. This makes creating a universal code of conduct for bankers something of a mission impossible. Yet every bank needs a code of conduct, a set of rules it has to live up to, in order to achieve sustainable profitability.
Bankers are expected to be responsible participants in economic life. But as the financial crisis unfurled, we saw that individual bankers tarnished this image, and with it that of the entire banking industry. But how does one identify a 'bad' banker? Clearly not by their outward appearance. It is the behaviour that is key to the reputation of the banking profession.
