Remaking Culture on Wall Street: A Behavioral Science Approach for Building Trust from the Bottom Up

Description

Since 2008, financial firms have paid, in aggregate, in excess of $320 billion in fines related to misconduct. Nearly ten years later, while many large financial firms have increased their attention to bad behavior and cultural drivers, the degree of commitment and progress in these efforts has not been even across the industry. Serious or persistent misconduct continues in some firms. Many organizations have attempted to curb bad behavior through intrusive monitoring and enforcement actions which reflect a lack of trust in their employees. A different approach is needed, one that gets at the root causes of misconduct and attempts to rebuild culture from the bottom up, with the employee at the center. This is where tools from behavioral science can help senior risk officers, compliance and business heads better understand the mind-set of their employees and internal communities and create an environment where the link between ethical behavior and strong business results is promoted. If firms continue to fail in establishing stronger internal cultures, regulators may feel compelled to step in and dictate what they should do. This book emphasizes the need for a change in approach, looking at the increased incidence of misconduct and culture breakdown since the 2008 crisis, how regulators have responded, and includes a series of proposals to restore that trust and reform culture. Front Matter ....Pages i-vii Introduction (Henry Engler)....Pages 1-6 The Financial Crisis: The Culture Problem Emerges (Henry Engler)....Pages 7-36 Culture and Organizational Size (Henry Engler)....Pages 37-46 Global Regulators: Limits on What They Can Do (Henry Engler)....Pages 47-58 Enforcing Culture: Criminally Based Compliance (Henry Engler)....Pages 59-65 Behavioral Science: From Theory to Practice (Henry Engler)....Pages 67-83 U.S. Regulators: Requiring Behavioral Risk Teams (Henry Engler)....Pages 85-92 What Is Finance For? (Henry Engler)....Pages 93-98 Back Matter ....Pages 99-101