AGM: Institute's 2011 meeting notes
President’s speech – AGM 2011

Fellows and Members of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, Colleagues:

2010 has been another transitional year for the banking industry in many respects. Restructuring of banks such as my own, RBS and Santander has continued, with changes at the top in these and other institutions. New banks such as Tesco and Virgin have developed their operations further, but we are still waiting for the full launch of their services, and for new competitors to emerge as a result of the future sales of Lloyds branches and of Northern Rock.

On the regulatory front, clarity is emerging as to the role of the new Prudential Regulatory and Financial Conduct Authorities, and I am pleased to see that both have already emphasised their plans to make judgments on banks’ ethical culture and on their senior and middle management competence, both issues the Institute has campaigned for. We still await the final report of the Independent Commission on Banking, of course, but it does look as though retail ringfencing rather than full separation of retail and investment banking is the likely way forward for the UK.

Over the past 12 months, your Institute has remained firm in the view, and has been more vocal in making the case, for re-professionalising institutions and the industry as a whole through building confidence and trust in the competence of individual bankers. This will support both the rebuilding of our banking industry on solid foundations of high ethical, professional and technical standards, and the efforts of regulators to ensure positive outcomes for consumers and society as a whole.

In this regard, I would like to pay tribute to Lady Susan Rice for taking the lead in establishing the Chartered Banker Professional Standards Board in December 2010. The Board now comprises chief executives or main board directors from Barclays, Clydesdale, ING, Lloyds, RBS, Santander and Virgin, with additional members expected to join in the near future. For the first time in many years, the Institute is engaging with the industry at the highest level on issues of ethics and professionalism, and across the whole of the UK rather than in Scotland alone. The establishment of the Board has positioned your Institute as the driving force behind new ethical and professional standards for bankers in the UK, and there is also now great international interest in the work we are doing in this area.

To reflect your Institute’s wider UK role, we now trade as the Chartered Banker Institute, a change that has been welcomed by many in the industry who have, in the past, been slightly confused or put off by a “Scottish” institute. Let me be clear – we have no intention to formally change the name or the headquarters of the Institute. We are proud to be the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, and the Scottish virtues of prudence, professionalism, stewardship and thrift underpin much of what was and is good about the banking industry. We would be extremely foolish to lose our Scottish heritage. We do, though, need to play a wider role than we have in the past and using the Chartered Banker brand to do so is a pragmatic and sensible approach.

On the subject of Chartered Banker, as you will no doubt be aware we have undertaken a major consultation and review exercise over the past year leading to the launch this coming October of a revised Chartered Banker qualification to support the development of the next generation of professional bankers. The new Chartered Banker qualification, perhaps unsurprisingly, focuses less on management and leadership as we have done in the past, and more on the core knowledge and skills required by bankers: credit & lending, financial analysis, risk management and, of course, professional ethics.

For those members and others who wish to go on to develop their leadership skills, we launched this year the Chartered Banker MBA in partnership with Bangor Business School, and I would like publicly to thank one of our Fellows, Colyn Gardner, for the vision and perseverance displayed in developing and launching the programme in January this year. The Chartered Banker MBA is a world first; the only MBA to combine a professional banking qualification with an MBA. Thirty individuals have registered for the programme in the first 6 months since its launch, and more than 400 enquiries from 27 countries have been received in the same period.

As you can see, the Institute has continued to innovate, and will continue to do so in the years ahead. The Institute’s staff should be congratulated for their work to keep the Institute at the forefront of professional education for bankers in the UK. The role of Council and Committees is equally important, though, in setting the direction and strategy for the Institute, and I must pay tribute to my colleagues on Council and Committees, particularly the Vice-Presidents and the Executive Committee, for ensuring that at all times your Institute has remained true to our core values and our mission.

As I have said before, few could deny that your Institute’s mission is not as relevant today as it was 136 years ago. We were established in 1875, to “improve the qualifications of bankers and to enhance their status and influence”. Developing bankers’ professional knowledge and skills, and helping bankers demonstrate their commitment to high ethical and professional standards, play an important part in rebuilding public confidence and trust, and pride in the banking profession. The values and behaviours developed through the Institute’s education programmes are far from oldfashioned; they are universal, and are the values and behaviours that we need to support the reprofessionalisation of our banking industry.

I look forward to your continued support for your Institute, and your new President, in our 137th year.

Philip Grant, President

Minutes of The Annual General

Meeting held on 24 June 2011

The 136th Annual General Meeting of the Institute took place at Institute’s offices at Drumsheugh House, Edinburgh. The meeting was chaired by Mr J Lindsay, Senior Vice-President.

Minutes of the 135th Annual General Meeting

The Minutes of the 135th Annual General Meeting, which was held in June 2010 in Edinburgh, were printed in the August 2010 edition of Chartered Banker and were taken as read.

1. President’s Address

Extracts from the President’s address are printed above.

2. Annual Report

A summary of the 2010-2011 Annual Report appeared in the June 2011 edition of Chartered Banker. The full report was available from the Institute website. The adoption of the Annual Report was proposed by the Chair and, subsequently, approved by the meeting.

3. Annual Accounts

The adoption of the accounts was proposed by the Chair and, subsequently, approved by the meeting.

4. Appointment of Auditor for 2011-2012

The Chair proposed the re-appointment of Messrs Chiene + Tait as the Institute’s auditor and this was approved by the meeting.

5. Election of Corporate Patron Representatives

The nominations for Corporate Patron Representatives were as follows:

J Lindsay, Airdrie Savings Bank

The nomination had been considered and approved by the Nominations Committee and was proposed by Mr Phil Walker and seconded by Mr Robert McElroy. Members voted in favour of Mr Lindsay’s election.

6. Election of Fellow Representatives

The nominations for Fellow Representatives were as follows:

M Cockburn,Virgin Money
R Dickie, American International Group Inc
H McKay, Lloyds Banking Group
S Rice, Lloyds Banking Group

The nominations had been considered and recommended by the Nominations Committee and were proposed by Mrs Ann Jakeman and seconded by Mr Jim Riddet. Members voted on the nominations and all four candidates were elected.

7. Founder Patron Appointments

The nominations to represent the Institute’s Founder Patrons were as follows:

P Grant, Lloyds Banking Group
J D Needham, The Royal Bank of
Scotland Group
K Page, Clydesdale Bank PLC
P G Walker, Lloyds TSB Scotland plc

The nominations to represent the founder banks had been received and were proposed by Mr Michael Cockburn and seconded by Mr Jim Riddet.

Members noted the appointments.

8. Election of President 2011-2012

The nomination for President had been considered and approved by the Nominations Committee. Mr Phil Walker proposed the election of Mr Jim Lindsay, Chief Executive, Airdrie Savings Bank, and this was seconded by Mr Miller McLean. Members voted in favour of Mr Lindsay’s election.

9. Election of Senior Vice-President 2011-2012

The nomination for Senior Vice-President had been considered and approved by the Nominations Committee. Mr Miller McLean proposed the election of Mr John Needham, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and this was seconded by Mr Michael Cockburn. Members voted in favour of Mr Needham’s election.

10. Election of Vice-Presidents for 2011-2012

The nominations for election/re-election were as follows:
K Page, Operations Director, Clydesdale Bank PLC
P G Walker, Lloyds TSB Scotland plc
I D Wilson, Risk Director, Tesco Bank

The nominations had been considered and recommended by the Nominations Committee and were proposed by Mr Jeremy Fraser and seconded by Mr Raymond Brown. Members voted on the nominations and all three candidates were elected.

11a. Proposal to set member subscriptions for the period July 2012 – June 2013

The motion was proposed that: “Recognizing that subscription rates have been held constant for the past 3 years, member subscriptions shall be set at the following levels with effect from 1st July 2012”:

Magazine Subscriber £60
Affiliate £60
Certificated £96
Associate £84
Member £120
Fellow £180
Retired £30
Student £90 (£60 for Corporate Patrons)”

The motion was carried unanimously.

11b. Proposal to Introduce Monthly Payment of Member Subscriptions

The motion was proposed that: “The Institute shall introduce the option of monthly payment of subscriptions for all categories of member by 1st July 2012. The Institute’s Executive Committee shall be empowered to determine the precise conditions for advance payment and lapsing of subscriptions paid monthly.”

The motion was carried unanimously.

11c. Proposal to Enable the Introduction of Member Subscriptions for Associate Chartered Bankers

The motion was proposed that: “The Institute’s Executive Committee shall be empowered to introduce appropriate subscription fees for Associate Chartered Bankers should that membership designation be introduced before 1st July 2012.”

The motion was carried unanimously.

12. Any other business

As there was no further business the President thanked everyone for their attendance and support, and brought the meeting to a close.

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