Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards
(PCBS).
Terms of reference
The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards was established by the UK parliament to:
A. Consider and report on:
- Professional standards and culture in the UK banking sector, taking account of regulatory and competition investigations into the LIBOR rate-setting scandal.
- Lessons to be learned about:
- Corporate governance.
- Transparency.
- Conflicts of interest.
- Their implications for regulation and for UK government policy.
B. Make recommendations for legislative and other action.
Final report
The Commission's 2013 report was designed to address:
- Making the individual responsibility of senior bankers a reality.
- Reinforcing each bank's own responsibility for its own soundness and the maintenance of its standards.
- Creating better functioning and more diverse banking markets.
- Reinforcing regulators' responsibility to exercise judgement in deploying their powers.
- Specifying the responsibilities of the UK government.
The Commission's report setting out its conclusions and recommendations can be downloaded here:
PCBS final report June 2013.
Subsequently some of the Commission's proposals were incorporated into the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013.
However a number of areas of concern remain to be implemented effectively.
Note
The Association of Corporate Treasurers gave both written and oral evidence to the Commission. Justin Welby, a member of the Commission, was Lord Bishop of Durham on his appointment and became the Archbishop of Canterbury before it reported. A former Treasurer of Enterprise Oil, he is a Fellow of the ACT.
See also