A "CULTURE of entitlement" has polluted the banking industry,
the Archbishop of Canterbury said on Saturday.
Speaking on the Radio 4 programme The Week in
Westminster, Archbishop Welby suggested that the industry was
"better than at many times in the past", and he referred to
measures to tackle insider trading, conflicts of interest, and the
treatment of women. But, he said: "In banking, in particular, and
in the City of London, a culture of entitlement has affected a
number of areas."
Asked about his comments at a Bible Society event last month, at
which he suggested that the economy remained in a "depression"
(News, 26 April), Archbishop Welby said: "It's simply a measurable
result coming from the national statistics."
He didn't like "ruffling feathers", he said, "but sometimes
feathers get ruffled. That's life." He also defended his position,
as a member of the clergy, on the Commission: "You make me sound
like the Vicar of Dibley on a bad day," he told the interviewer,
the Financial Times journalist George Parker. "I don't
spend my whole life in the pulpit, you know: I do have quite a
normal life."
Investment guide. Only a minority of investment funds
set up for charities consider issues outside the traditional "sin
stocks" of tobacco, alcohol, gambling, military, and pornography,
the latest report from the EIRIS Foundation, a charity for
responsible investment, suggests. In future, however, charities'
fund managers may seek out companies with ethical practices.
The guide is available free at www.eiris.org.
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