These days “honesty” and “banking” are not words that are generally used together in the public arena. Following the banking crisis and its aftermath, regulation has been stepped up, supervision has become more intrusive and there is widespread pressure to improve governance, risk management and culture across the industry.

Unlike rules and regulations, however, culture is harder to pin down. It is about "how things are done around here". It is the fundamental values of the organisation. But these values simply have to be underpinned by a clear set of policies, principles and codes of conduct that are, in turn, reinforced by competent leadership and behaviours.