The bankers’ oath
A bankers' oath may sound ridiculous, says Merryn Somerset Webb. But at least it would remind them of their responsibilities to the rest of us.
This week the name of the fare-dodging fund manager was unveiled. Jonathan Burrows skipped paying his train fare from Kent to London for five years, said the Daily Mail, and then tried to avoid anyone finding out by paying out £43,000 in back fares. That didn't work.
The police and the Financial Conduct Authority investigated and Burrows has now resigned from his smart job at BlackRock. This is a fascinating story for all sorts of reasons, but for me, the most interesting bit is how Burrows held down his job for as long as he did.
Why? Because he has the kind of attitude to risk that you really don't want the person looking after your money to have the one that considers it reasonable to take massive reputational and financial risks for relatively small gains (or thrills). I wonder why no one at BlackRock noticed earlier.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Last week also saw the launch of areport from ResPublica (VirtuousBanking: Placing ethos and purpose at the heart of finance), which suggested that bankers should be made to take an oath to "fulfil their proper moral and economic purpose", as is now the case in the Netherlands.
They'd promise to do their "utmost to behave in a manner that prioritises the needs of customers", to "confront profligacy and impropriety" wherever they encounter it; and to note that "the conduct of bankers can have dramatic consequences for society".
Look north and you will see that this isn't a new idea for the financial industry: Edinburgh-based managers First State Investments already have what they call a Hippocratic oath for asset managers.
In light of the Burrows story, some of the clauses of this oath are rather interesting. "I will strive to achieve through hard work, sober analysis and sound judgement the best risk-adjusted returns possible for my clients." And "I will not forget in my search for returns that the primary risk faced by my clients is losing their capital".
At first glance, the idea of suggesting an oath for bankers or for fund managers seems mildly ridiculous. But it might be a more valuable process than first glance suggests.
How many people go into banking understanding that "the conduct of bankers can have dramatic consequences for society"? And how many trainee fund managers really understand the moral responsibility that comes with having the financial hopes and dreams of millions in their hands? I can tell you for certain that the answer among the young fund managers I knew when I was a young broker was none.
Oaths aren't the answer to every problem, and nor will they automatically restore trust in our dismal financial system. But taken every year in public they might act as a nice reminder to all our brokers, bankers, and managers that working in finance is about more than bonuses.
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).
After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times
Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast - but still writes for Moneyweek monthly.
Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.
-
The 62 UK areas where you could be priced out of using your Lifetime ISA
Saving for your first home in Croydon, Ealing, Brent or any one of these other locations? You could be at risk of being priced out of using your Lifetime ISA
By Katie Williams Published
-
Single people face £2k retirement shortfall. Can you fill the gap?
Being single may have plenty of benefits but it could leave you with a retirement shortfall. But even as a single person, there are things you can do to plug the gap before you stop working
By Marc Shoffman Published
-
How capitalism has been undermined by poor governance
Editor's letter Capitalism’s “ruthless efficiency” has been undermined by poor governance, a lack of competition and central banks’ over-enthusiastic money printing, says Andrew Van Sickle.
By Andrew Van Sickle Published
-
The biggest change in the last 17 years – the death of the “Greenspan put”
Editor's letter Since I joined MoneyWeek 17 years ago, says John Stepek, we’ve seen a global financial crisis, a eurozone sovereign debt crisis , several Chinese growth scares, a global pandemic, and a land war in Europe. But the biggest change is the death of the “Greenspan put”.
By John Stepek Published
-
Things won't just return to normal – that's not how inflation works
Editor's letter You might think that, if inflation is indeed “transitory”, we just need to wait and everything will return to “normal”. But this is a grave misunderstanding of how inflation works, says John Stepek.
By John Stepek Published
-
Car hire and the strangeness of the post-pandemic economy
Editor's letter A global shortage of hire cars and unusually high hotel occupancy rates sum up the post-pandemic global economy in a nutshell, says Merryn Somerset Webb, with enhanced demand meeting restricted supply.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
-
Everything is getting more expensive – including money
Editor's letter Investors are about to start feeling rather more pain, says Merryn Somerset Webb – from the rising price of money.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
-
We may be heading for recession – and it will be no ordinary recession
Editor's letter Just as the downturn in 2020 was not a typical recession. the next downturn could be very different too, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
-
What companies should be prioritising this decade
Editor's letter In a world beset by uncertainty, companies should be prioritising slack over efficiency, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
-
Inflation could soon start to hurt
Editor's letter Inflation is not going away. And with people's wages not keeping up, things are going to start to hurt, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published