Mentoring in Banking and Finance Mentoring in Banking and Finance
How to design mentoring for a regulated workplace where conduct and risk culture matter.
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
What supervisors look for
Build the program around risk culture
Supervisors read a firm’s risk culture through four signs.
- Tone from the top leaders model the values
- Accountability staff know their part
- Communication and challenge people can raise a hand
- Incentives pay and promotion back the values
Culture and honesty
Work identity can bend honest behavior
Bank staff cheated more in an experiment once their banker identity was brought to mind.
- Neutral reminder honest on average
- Banker identity a significant share cheated
- Other industries no such change
Yearly certification
Certified roles are checked every year
In the UK, firms confirm certified staff are fit and proper at least yearly.
- On appointment first fit and proper check
- Every year a new assessment
- On leaving a regulatory reference
Teaching the conduct rules
Teach conduct through real cases
The UK regulator wants realistic scenarios, involved line managers and regular refreshers.
- Realistic scenarios for each role
- Line managers help deliver it
- Part of onboarding, then repeated
- Effectiveness is measured
Business and control functions
Pair business lines with control functions
The FSB names rotation between control functions and business lines as good practice.
- Business line learns how risk is judged
- Risk and compliance learn how the business makes money
- Internal audit shares what goes wrong
Risk skills in leadership
Put risk skills in leadership plans
Succession plans should weigh risk experience, not only revenue.
- Development plans risk understanding as a core skill
- Succession control leaders count as candidates
- Training for all challenge and open talk
Women in senior finance roles
Women’s share rises one point a year
Among UK Women in Finance Charter firms, women held 37% of senior roles in 2025.
- 2021 32%32%
- 2022 34%34%
- 2023 35%35%
- 2024 36%36%
- 2025 37%37%
Where banks stand
UK banks have stalled at 38%
Banks led for years, but their share of women in senior roles stopped rising.
What mentoring changes
Expect satisfaction gains more than pay
Mentored people fare better in their careers, but effects on pay are small.
- Career satisfaction clear benefit
- Pay and promotion small effects
- Type of mentoring career and psychosocial support differ
Senior bankers as mentors
Let senior bankers share their judgment
Mentors can talk through real decisions that no rulebook fully covers.
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- Financial Stability Board (2014) Guidance on supervisory interaction with financial institutions on risk culture: A framework for assessing risk culture Financial Stability Board, Basel, 7 April 2014
- Cohn, A., Fehr, E. & Maréchal, M. A. (2014) Business culture and dishonesty in the banking industry Nature, 516(7529), 86-89
- Financial Conduct Authority (2026) Senior Managers and Certification Regime: Certification Regime and Conduct Rules Financial Conduct Authority, London (web pages, read 21 October 2026)
- HM Treasury (2026) HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter: Annual review 2025 (Chinwala, Y., Barrow, J. & Singhal, S., New Financial) HM Treasury, London, March 2026
- Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E. & Lima, L. (2004) Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127-136
Make conduct part of every pairing
Match across functions, discuss real cases and track who reaches senior roles.