THE NETHERLANDS – The banking sector needs to change its mentality drastically if it wants to regain public confidence, says the Advisory Committee on the Future of Banks in a report published on Tuesday.

The research, which was commissioned by the Dutch banking association NVB, concludes banks need to place the customers’ interests over shareholders and employees.

This requires a 'fundamental change in mentality', the report states. By serving their clients properly, banks can win back lost trust, the report says. The crisis has damaged confidence in the economic role of banks, but also raised questions about their ethical and moral outlook.

The advisory committee was first appointed in November 2008 to advise the banking sector on the mistakes that could be learned from the financial crisis.

The report recommends that banks should not be allowed to hand out shareholders and pay bankers’ bonuses. A “bankers’ declaration” on banking ethics should be drawn up and signed by bankers who would promise to perform their duties with care and integrity.

The committee also wants pay policy in the banking sector to be revised and top bankers’ earnings to be slightly lower than the average income for equivalent posts within and beyond the financial sector.

Other recommendations include a stronger role for the boards of commissioners, which supervise the banks' boards of directors.

Radio Netherlands / Expatica