It is no surprise that in the FCA’s 2017/18 Business Plan, culture and governance in financial firms are listed as the number one priority for the regulator.

As Andrew Bailey put it in a recent speech: ‘Cultural outcomes are the product of a wide range of contributory forces: the structure and effectiveness of management and governance, including the well-used phrase ‘the tone from the top’; and the incentives they create; the quality and effectiveness of risk management; and the willingness of people throughout the organisation to enthusiastically adopt and adhere to the tone from the top. That adherence is crucial: actions really do speak louder than words and are at the heart of how we judge the intent towards good outcomes and thus culture.’

In this our 3rd Annual Culture and Conduct Forum for the Financial Services Industry, we analyse how firms can address the contributory forces that determine the make-up of their culture so that they can produce better outcomes for customers, investors, creditors, shareholders and to public authorities in respect of the public interest.  
 
The Forum will cover:

• Getting to Grips with Culture
• Building a culture of continuous Improvement
• Strengthening governance frameworks to mitigate misconduct risk
• Spotlight on corporate culture: the role of investors
• Ticking outside the box: how to drive true accountability
• Diversity and reaping the benefits of an inclusive culture
• Reform of the Corporate Governance Code
• Lessons from The Netherlands
• Whistleblowing and encouraging a “speak-up” culture
• Lessons from other industries
• Mapping outcomes: Why culture matters for customers, clients and the wider society
• Global view of conduct in Financial Services
• The Case for Standards