Banking for the common good: A Lonerganian perspective

Abstract

The financial crisis of 2008 left a legacy of hardship in its wake and exposed a culture of moral penury in UK banking. In an ex-post attempt to address this malaise and restore confidence in the sector, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) affirmed, in its mission statement, a strong commitment to serving the public interest. We appraise the FCA's public interest rhetoric and contrast the term public interest with its antecedent, the common good. In so doing, we conclude that the common good is superior to the public interest insofar as the former incorporates a moral dimension which is absent from the latter. Moreover, the common good embraces an inclusivity in its altruism that renders it superior to the majoritarism of the public interest. Thereafter, we illuminate the concept of the common good by drawing on Bernard Lonergan's philosophical anthropology and, in particular, his cognitive structure of dynamic knowing. Finally, we provide a discourse for the banking sector which incorporates Lonergan's philosophy as a mechanism for conceptualising accounting and accountability for the common good. We argue for a new focus to liberate banking from self-interested desires, embedded in a neoliberal ideology, and redirect it towards a compassionate caring culture.

Common good human resource management, ethical employee behaviors, and organizational citizenship behaviors toward the individual

“…Recently, modern firms have tended to implement the common good concept in order to contribute to the interests of society as a whole, thereby helping all to achieve their personal good (Frémeaux & Michelson, 2017). As a result, they take into consideration network‐based activities in society, thus advancing the importance of the connection between society, human capital, and individual interests, rather than any benefits pertaining to a specific individual (Ballantine et al., 2020). Thus, a common good approach encourages firms to take responsibility for addressing the major challenges that people are facing collectively and to consider their long‐term interest in sustaining a collective livelihood.…”

Assessing the Relevance of Green Banking Practice on Bank Loyalty: The Mediating Effect of Green Image and Bank Trust

“…The economic hardship experienced as a result of the global economic meltdown during the period 2007-2008, called for the adoption of ideal measures in banking, that should be used for the common good of the society [50,51], and the green banking approach is one of the few concepts that has been identified to be appropriate in the delivery of banking products and services for the greater good of mankind [52,53]. As a means of ensuring an ideal energy development, green banking as a concept gained prominence in 2008 [16], which has led to the establishment of green banks in various countries (such as Australia, Japan, Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States of America), aimed at developing green financing as an important measure which could facilitate the attainment of the green agenda at all levels of society [54].…”

A Notsie narrative perspective on turnover in the UK financial services industry

“…The mis-selling of personal pensions alone, for example, has prompted the payment of over £10 billion in redress (McConnell and Blacker, 2012;Nobles and Black, 1998). Since 2005, industry regulators, including the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), have been dealing with the fallout from the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI), covering a variety of products and services such as mortgage insurance, secured/unsecured loan insurance, endowment policies, pet insurance and pension protections (Ballantine et al, 2018;BBC, 2013;Ferran, 2012). In an effort to secure redress and restore confidence in the system, regulators imposed fines and penalties on many financial services firms, banks and general insurance firms, and ordered them to pay compensation to customers who purchased PPI between 1990 and 2010, before the deadline of August 19th, 2019 (Halan et al, 2014;Hosking & Martin, 2019).…”