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December 12, 2019 By Richard Bowen

Transparency, Integrity and the Institute of Banking Irish Style

Ireland continued to be a unique learning experience with my participating with some of the most esteemed organizations in the country.

Throughout I was impressed with the emphasis each had regarding ethics in the banking culture and it was an honor to address these groups who are so focused on stamping out corruption in both business and government.

Picture of Richard M. Bowen speaking at the Institute of Banking Certified Bank Director Conference
Richard M. Bowen speaking at IoB Certified Bank Director Conference in November, 2019.

I presented to the Institute of Banking (IoB) in Dublin at their annual Certified Bank Director conference. The conference brings together those executives who have earned one of the most coveted certifications in EU banking today. Although most of the audience were currently in banking, the audience also included professionals in regulatory and other financial services organizations, including representatives of the new Irish Banking Culture Board.

The presenters were likewise impressive and included Claire Lanigan, Head of Division of the Central Bank of Ireland and Margaret Cullen, CEO of the Certified Investment Fund Director Institute.

The IoB, one of the oldest banking institutes in the world, is also an accredited college, and they currently have the largest continuing education program in Ireland.

The Certified Bank Director program is a specialist governance program that explores the unique challenges of governance that exist in such a highly regulated sector. The program plays a vital role in educating bankers and brings practitioner and research-based perspectives to the issues of risk, governance, strategy and the regulatory environment faced by bank directors in Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe and globally.

The nine-module program is hefty and includes modules on how to understand the essence of a bank, the banking system, the lessons from the banking crisis, and the likely future development of banking post-crisis. There are also modules on how to understand the drivers of consumer-focused culture and best practice in demonstrating ethical leadership and in driving effective cultural change.

The Irish Banking Culture board has one overriding mission: to make banking in Ireland trustworthy again.

Ms. Marion Kelly, the acting CEO of the Irish Banking Culture Board was an honored guest at the conference and has said, “We’ve been working on establishing the IBCB for over nine months now. What we decided to do was we need to hear the voice of the staff, the public and the stakeholders.” She has emphasized how important it was for IBCB to engage all stakeholders to facilitate and encourage the highest standards of ethical conduct in banking.

More banking officials need to follow the lead of Ms. Kelly and Mr. Justice John Hedigan, the Chair of the Irish Banking Culture Board, in the drive to make Irish Banking respected again as a profession. Mr. Justice Hedigan has said “This is a challenging but most worthy endeavor. I am greatly looking forward to working with the new Board and engaging with all stakeholders, particularly bank customers, in facilitating and encouraging the highest standards of ethical conduct in this vital industry.”

Picture of Richard M. Bowen speaking at IoB conference with Christmas trees on both sides of the projected slides.
Richard M. Bowen at IoB Certified Bank Director Conference in November 2019, speaking about his testimony on the 2008 financial crisis.

I talked about ethical corporate cultures and how to truly implement them within organizations. I shared my speaking to SEACEN and the chief banking regulators of the central banks of 19 southeast Asian countries who wanted to learn the biggest mistakes made by our bank regulators leading up to the financial crisis, such that they could be alert and hopefully identify/stop the issues before they lead to a future financial crisis in their own countries.

I also talked about the concept of control fraud and the extreme damage it can wreak on the economy if not recognized and addressed early. Because control fraud was detected and prosecuted early in the 1980’s crisis, the cost of that crisis was significantly less than the 2008 crisis, when it was allowed to run its course with no prosecutions. And I tried to also sensitize those in the role of bank directors so that they also could recognize control fraud in their own organizations.

After the regulatory panel discussion, a fun experience was going to the IoB film studio where I taped a 20 min webinar to be used in their continuing education program. We also taped a one-minute interview of me with video clips of the conference.

The time I spent with the Institute of Banking reminded me of the critical need to pay more attention, here in the U.S. as well as in other countries, to the role bank directors, regulators and other financial experts play in preventing fraud and ethical lapses. I commend them for their robust learning programs.

 

Whistleblowing In An Age of Fraud
Transparency, Integrity and Ireland

Tagged With: business ethics, Citigroup, ethical leadership, Financial Crisis, whistleblowers

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Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.

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William D. Cohan"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst."

~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
2017-06-30T10:08:59-05:00
"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst." ~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
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Eileen McDonnell"Richard Bowen reinforced my motto that "there is no right way to do a wrong thing.” Long after his presentation, the conversation has continued about personal responsibility and the courage to challenge things that appear to be wrong. We encourage this dialog and rely on it to help make our business stronger."

~ Eileen McDonnell, Chairman, CEO, & President, Penn Mutual
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"Richard Bowen reinforced my motto that "there is no right way to do a wrong thing.” Long after his presentation, the conversation has continued about personal responsibility and the courage to challenge things that appear to be wrong. We encourage this dialog and rely on it to help make our business stronger." ~ Eileen McDonnell, Chairman, CEO, & President, Penn Mutual
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"Richard Bowen, you are a star and a hero." ~ Ben Stein, Economist and Political Commentator
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Jim Farrell"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership."

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2014-12-28T19:48:17-06:00
"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership." ~ Jim Farrell, Program Chairman, Dallas Chapter, Financial Executives International
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/532/

Dennis McCuistion"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years."

~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
2014-12-28T19:48:06-06:00
"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years." ~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/533/

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~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
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"Richard Bowen is a dynamic, entertaining speaker and story-teller - a CPA with a great personality!" ~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/531/

fred-timmons"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences."

~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
2014-12-28T19:47:22-06:00
"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences." ~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
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Presentation Topics

Playing for High Stakes: The Principles and Practice of Ethical Leadership

Dark Citi: The Story of a Whistleblower

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Now an ethical leadership speaker, Richard Bowen was Citigroup's Business Chief Underwriter during the housing bubble.

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