Banking industry needs to address ‘moral dimension’ of crisis

The financial services industry has to ask itself moral questions about its actions if lessons are to be learnt from the recent crisis, according to Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC Holdings.

Green told the CBI conference in London that to restore trust and confidence, banks had to address the “moral dimension” of what has happened. Industry players have grown “increasingly accepting” of the idea that if their behaviour was legal and driven by the market then it was always acceptable, he said.