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November 14, 2019 By Richard Bowen

Transparency and Ethics in Ireland

Irish flag against a blue sky with white clouds.
Irish flag photo by George Hodan, courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

This coming week I’m off to Ireland where I’m presenting to several groups, Transparency International, Ireland, the Institute of Banking and the National University of Ireland.

The core of each presentation is on ethics and integrity, using as a springboard my experience and resulting outcomes at Citigroup. I find that somewhat ironic given the present business and political culture in the United States. I’m thinking we can learn a great deal from them on how to conduct business more ethically.

Keynote

For Transparency International, Ireland (TII) I’m delivering the keynote address on how to foster ethical behavior in the workplace; part of their annual Integrity At Work conference. TII is a multi-stakeholder, not-for-profit initiative, the Irish chapter of the worldwide organization against corruption. They fight to ensure power is used in the interest of everyone.

The parent organization, Transparency International (TI) gives voice to the victims and witnesses of corruption. They work with other chapters, over 120 of them worldwide, leading the fight against corruption to turn this vision into reality. At one time there was a U.S. chapter, however, it was disaccredited in 2017 for having “differences in philosophy” with TI. The Economist said, “No country can ignore its reputation for corruption. That means no country can ignore Transparency International.” Unfortunately, some still do.

Since 1993 TI has worked to fight corruption around the world. They have put in place binding and global conventions against corruption, holding governments and individuals accountable. In 1995 they developed the first-ever Corruption Perception Index, which scores individual countries on corruption in their public sectors and has been widely credited with putting the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda.

Alumni

I’ll go on to speak, also in Dublin, at the Institute of Banking for alumni of their Certified Bank Director program. There are new regulations in Ireland covering bank directors that require their certification.

The new Irish Banking Culture Board (IBCB) will be represented at both conferences and has one overriding mission, to make banking in Ireland trustworthy again.

I was struck by their chair, Justice John Hedigan’s quote on their website page which says,

This is a challenging but most worthy endeavour. I am greatly looking forward to working with the new Board and engaging with all stakeholders, particularly bank customers, in facilitating and encouraging the highest standards of ethical conduct in this vital industry.

In the U.S., especially in banking, we are more focused on the shareholder, one who owns one or more shares in a company and therefore gets part of the profits; compared to stakeholder, one who has any interest in any decision or activity of an organization which includes employees, vendors, the community, government and also investors.

Masterclass

Map of Ireland with a dashed line from Dublin to Galway.
Ireland map courtesy of Mapswire.com, path added.

A full week in Dublin, as I then go to the National University of Ireland at Galway and the graduates of their Executive MBA Masterclass program. And then the Whitaker Institute, speaking to their students and faculty.

Will there be time to enjoy the renowned beauty and hospitality of Ireland? I sure hope so.

However, more than anything else it’s the differences in how we may do business that I am looking forward to observing and learning from. In the U.S., the Business Roundtable now states their new focus is on “stakeholders,” but their focus appears to continue to be more on profit and “shareholders.”

And I’ve yet to hear banking executives so publicly proclaim “let’s make banking trustworthy again.” As a former banker, ousted because of whistleblowing, I’m really looking forward to learning about the differences and, yes, similarities in how we do business in the U.S. and how they do in Ireland and their more respectful openness toward whistleblowing as needed. We will have a lot to share.

Misconduct Leads to More Misconduct
The Fall of an American Icon

Tagged With: ethical leadership, Ethics, Financial Crisis, Speaking

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Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.

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William D. Cohan"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst."

~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
2017-06-30T10:08:59+00:00
"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst." ~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
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"Richard Bowen reinforced my motto that "there is no right way to do a wrong thing.” Long after his presentation, the conversation has continued about personal responsibility and the courage to challenge things that appear to be wrong. We encourage this dialog and rely on it to help make our business stronger." ~ Eileen McDonnell, Chairman, CEO, & President, Penn Mutual
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"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership." ~ Jim Farrell, Program Chairman, Dallas Chapter, Financial Executives International
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Dennis McCuistion"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years."

~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
2014-12-28T19:48:06+00:00
"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years." ~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
https://www.richardmbowen.com/testimonials/533/

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~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
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"Richard Bowen is a dynamic, entertaining speaker and story-teller - a CPA with a great personality!" ~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
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fred-timmons"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences."

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2014-12-28T19:47:22+00:00
"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences." ~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
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Presentation Topics

Playing for High Stakes: The Principles and Practice of Ethical Leadership

Dark Citi: The Story of a Whistleblower

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Now an ethical leadership speaker, Richard Bowen was Citigroup's Business Chief Underwriter during the housing bubble.

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