In-person event

This talk is a critical examination of the cultural impact of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) in the UK and the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR), recently expanded into the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR), in Australia. Though various reports in the UK and Australia have determined that these IARs are already starting to have a positive impact on the culture of the financial services sector, there are also some indications to the contrary, which are often minimised.

Drawing on legal and regulatory theory, criminological theory, and behavioural psychology, this talk explores how these IARs can work better in practice, setting out a normative roadmap for both regulators and financial institutions to consider when implementing and executing these regimes. It explores, for example, the case for implementing a “process sandbox” to provide guidance on the operation and implementation of IARs, where there is a lack of clarity as to how provisions of the IAR will be interpreted by regulators. This would provide the opportunity to increase mutual understanding of regulatory expectations thereby enhancing the probability that regulatory objectives will be met.

In addition, the talk explores the case for further professionalising the banking sector, as recommended by the UK Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards in 2013 and the Australian Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry in 2019. In particular, it employs regulatory theory (meta-regulation), behavioural psychology (groups as moral anchors), and criminological theory (stakes in conformity), to explore how increased professionalisation is a form of control and attachment, creating particular group dynamics which can inform individual decision-making processes and help to generate more ethical actions to prevent wrongdoing. It is argued that professionalism can be enhanced by educational requirements that emphasise members’ commitment to serve a positive social purpose, beyond profit-maximisation, and through mechanisms for members to be disciplined by their community for failing to honour their duties.

About the speaker

Joe McGrath is an Irish Research Council Scholar, an Ireland-Canada Scholar, a Fulbright Scholar, and an Associate Professor of Law at the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, Ireland. He researches corporate governance, financial regulation, and white-collar crime. He is the author and editor of several books and publishes in the leading-peer reviewed journals in Ireland, Europe, Australia, and the USA.

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Tuesday 18 March

Time: 1-2pm

Venue: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney, Camperdown campus

CPD Points: 1

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This event is proudly presented by the University of Sydney Law School.