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Irish banks are fond of customer-first slogans - but the Central Bank says they're not living up to them

The review found there is still a crisis-era mindset in several executive committees.

A REVIEW OF behaviour and culture in Ireland’s five pillar banks has found lenders still have “a distance to travel” before they can be considered truly customer-focused.

The review which was conducted by the Central Bank in collaboration with the Dutch Central Bank assessed the organisational culture of AIB Group, Bank of Ireland Group, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland.

As part of the process, the team conducted hundreds of surveys and more than 15 hours of interviews in each bank. They also reviewed business strategies, organisations structures and role profiles.

Some were found to be further advanced in their move towards a more consumer-focused culture, but there were some trends that were across the board, like a lack of collective understanding of what consumer focus actually means.

The review team focused primarily on the executive leadership team, “due to the importance of its members in driving effective cultures”. The report notes several executive committees display ‘firefighting behaviour’, focusing on urgent and short-term issues.

This may be a remnant of a crisis-era mindset which persists because of the necessity to solve a multitude of legacy and regulatory issues.

Another recurring theme was the need to increase the empowerment and decision-making ability of senior staff.

Reviews also identified an over-optimism among lenders about the successful transition to a consumer-focused culture – in some cases they did not anticipate the amount of work or time it would take.

Strategies harmful to consumers can often emerge simply because the impact on the consumer was not openly discussed beforehand, according to the report.

Although the final report published by the Central Bank today does not provide information on individual lenders, each of the banks has been sent individualised reviews pinpointing areas of improvement.

These banks will be required to deliver action plans to address the specific risks identified.

The Central Bank has also recommended that legislation be introduced to facilitate the introduction of an individual accountability framework which would set conduct standards for staff and ensure clear lines of accountability.

Derville Rowland, director general financial conduct for the Central Bank said culture is “set from the top down” and so it is a matter for boards and senior management in the first instance to set an effective culture that puts customers first.

“Banks still have a distance to go to live up to their slogans of putting customers first,” she said.

Effective organisational culture builds on shared purpose and standards such as professionalism, honesty, integrity and accountability to deliver fair outcomes that have the interests of consumers at heart. The Central Bank expects to see such standards and values embedded in all the firms we regulate.

Rowland said the regulator will be monitoring the appropriateness and implementation of lender’s programmes.

“There is no magic wand to solve these issues all at once. Cultural issues take time to work through, so this will be very much ongoing and continuous multi-year supervisory work rather than a once-off, immediate solution.”

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    Mute Ferg Breen
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:00 AM

    We Need To Talk About Dylan.

    76
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    Mute reg gordon
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:50 AM

    Can’t agree with this
    So the killer becomes even more notorious?
    These killings should be consigned to the past as they happen to prevent copy cat events

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    Mute tmwtbc
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:14 AM

    There have been countless books written about countless murders and massacres; by victims, investigating officers and even perpetrators themselves. This is no different.

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    Mute Cathal Golden
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:16 AM

    So I suppose all massacres and maybe even genocide should also be consigned to the past? How very irish of you!

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    Mute Ablitive
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:18 AM

    Copy cat false flags is the correct terminology.

    A search for the “victims” of the 1999 Columbine ‘massacre’ in official records yields some shocking results …there aren’t any

    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ab_1399244702

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 26th 2014, 12:57 PM

    Maybe Bob Geldof will write a song about it too.

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    Mute Chris Mackey
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:37 AM

    As a parent with a son in college that is one of the things that I worry about but are we just a generation away from it happening here where we have parents being killed or seriously injured while we drop our children to school. You can buy a gun easier in the states than a car, We are going the same way here. What the solution is I don’t know, we can make it more difficult to but weapons/drugs/ etc but if you stand outside any school & ask the students where you can get these things I will bet my wages that within a few min you will have what you want or be given the name of someone who can get it for you.

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    Mute Chris Mackey
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    Sep 26th 2014, 9:08 AM

    I should say he is in college in the states but click red if you wish but it is going to happen here all we have to do is look at the amount of bullying in schools from playgroup/playgrounds/ parks/internet/ right up into the work place. We are to a nation that pretends this will never happen to me. It can happen, we are a generation away from this happening even if you dont agree with me. All you have to do is read papers, listen to the news its out there we need to wake up & smell the coffee. Click red all you like but it is just a generation away

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 26th 2014, 12:59 PM

    ” You can buy a gun easier in the states than a car, We are going the same way here.”

    In what respect are we “going the same way here”?

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    Mute Chris Mackey
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    Sep 26th 2014, 6:18 PM

    You can buy a gun in walmark or on any street the same as here I bet you could go into a pub anywhere in Ireland get drugs, guns etc & if you think this is not true then ask any teenager they will know where to go or know someone who knows someone where to get it

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    Mute Justin O'Connell
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:59 AM

    Who is worse here, the mother for writing the book or the public that will buy it..??
    “Paper will never refuse ink”

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    Mute Matt Connolly
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    Sep 26th 2014, 6:26 PM

    …& the journal will never refuse nutjobs.

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    Mute Juan Venegas
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:27 AM

    People always trying to Ka$hing at any cost

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    Mute Loop De Loop
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:44 AM

    Eh … She’s giving the profits away ????

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 26th 2014, 12:57 PM

    A parenting manual no doubt.

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    Mute Rowan T Cregan
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    Sep 27th 2014, 9:06 AM

    The reference work on that day is the book, “Columbine” by Dave Cullen. He goes through the initial reports of that day and demonstrates that every word released by the local police chief was untrue.

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    Mute Andrew Dunne
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:11 AM

    Actually this book could not recent future shootings.

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    Mute Andrew Dunne
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:11 AM

    *prevent

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