Conduct Costs Project

Banking misconduct report for 20 of the world’s leading banks.

Reporting the conduct costs of 20 leading banks

The Centre for Banking Research (CBR) Conduct Costs Project report discusses the financial consequences of bank misconduct for twenty of the world’s leading banks, from January 2008 to December 2018.

Post-crisis era and Covid-19

Banks' conduct costs in the post-crisis era continue to be a matter for concern, and they remain even more relevant in the current Covid-19 crisis, as they indicate how successful banks have been in restructuring their culture, articulating the desired culture, and maintaining their cultural vision.

The Centre for Banking Research (CBR) Conduct Costs Project aims to foster transparency in financial activity and to deliver a category of benchmarking, which comprises the level of conduct costs and the conduct risk of the banks, as an analytical tool for the banks and their stakeholders.

CBR Conduct Costs Project insights

The Project also provides valuable insight into:

• Banks’ culture
• Conduct
• Competence
• Regulatory risks.

The use of clear and publicly available metrics for banks’ conduct costs is an important step forward to ensure the trustworthiness of the banking sector, and it is paramount to foster an ethical culture in financial firms.

Background to the CBR Conduct Costs Project

The Conduct Costs Project started at the London School of Economics in 2012 and, in 2014, migrated to the CCP Research Foundation. The Foundation, through the Project, has published detailed data on the conduct costs of 20 international banks for the period 2008 – 2016.

The data have included the publication of an annual conduct costs "league table" and accompanying report which has, uniquely, displayed a comprehensive analysis of the banks' conduct costs track record on a rolling five- year basis.

The Project’s findings have been acknowledged and referred to several times by a wide range of stakeholders, from media, at conferences, specialised journals in banking, financial market issues, consultancies, regulators, and by the Bank of England.

In May 2019, the Project transferred to the Centre for Banking Research at the Business School, City, University of London, which will continue the research and its publication.

CBR Conduct Costs Project database

Our comprehensive dataset, besides adding context to the conduct costs, provides a valuable insight into a bank´s non-financial conduct performance. The project will continue to work on updating the dataset, alongside with analysing the conduct performance of each bank.