Banking with a conscience

A practical example from the Netherlands

'For decades, ethics was simply equated with legal compliance. Now our view of what it takes to be a "good company" extends far beyond the boundaries of the law. Questions of ethics have come to reflect how a business impacts social, environmental, and political systems, and vice versa; a company can no longer operate solely as a self-interested, profit-maximizing black box'.2 We endorse this statement by Alison Taylor, author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World. Unfortunately, she also concludes that there is 'no playbook to help executives navigate this new world'. However, Taylor mentions several initiatives as sources of inspiration. For example: 'Consider Dutch bank Rabobank's dynamic approach to ethical challenges. Its Ethics Committee, which includes young employees, considers the ethics surrounding emerging issues such as AI and cryptocurrencies and sustainability di...

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A practical example from the Netherlands

1. Introduction

2. The Ethics Committee of Rabobank

3. Ethics as a learning process

4. Characteristics of Rabobank's Ethics Committee

5. Organization and positioning of an ethics committee

6. Concluding remarks