Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

The ABBL commissioned a stydy by the TNS ILRES Institute. Findings were presented July 4th.

TNS ILRES identified four categories of employees :
- "Critics"are rather critical, therefore difficult to lead. They have a strong belief in the competitive ability of the company. They are individualistic, interested in their own professional advancement. They give impetus for change. They are ready to change jobs when the opportunity arises.
- "Drivers" have a strong identification with corporate objectives. They are highly loyal to the company. They believe in the future vision and the competitive ability of the company. They show strong initiative and willingness to cooperate inspires and motivates colleagues.
- "Residents" are very satisfied. They fulfil their work without experiencing a motivating environment. They have a stabilising effect on the company. They are security driven. They need to be directed.
- "Detached" are dissatisfied. They are disconnected from the company. They are more frustrated than dedicated and a source of contagion for negative climate. They are underutilised resources of the company.

Compared to the European benchmark, the financial centre of Luxembourg is intensely missing ‘drivers – locomotives’ (only 8% have a reference value of 21%) as well as ‘critics’ (only 4% have a reference value of 13%); instead of having 1 employee out of 3 who are motivated and convinced of the performance of the centre, the survey reveals that there is only 1 in 8.

The analysed population characterises itself with a very high proportion of ‘residents’, 56% which means 22 points more than the European average of the employees, this is not only surprising but also worrying for a sector which is of first importance to the national economy. The proportion of ‘detached’ (one third) matches the European average.

Newsletter_ABBL_Social_Matters_1_ENG.pdf



As far as business ethics is concerned, Jean-Nicolas Schaus, who is General Manager of the CSSF, (body responsible for the supervision of the Financial centre) stated in the report 2004 that "in too many cases, the persons responsible for reprehensible acts do not suffer the consequences with regard to the continuation of their occupation. The person responsible for such an act is often simply removed from management while being granted compensations, which largely exceed normal expectations. Sometimes, the impression could arise that crime pays, whichsoils the reputation of a fi nancial centre. Moreover, it can be observed on too many occasions that when such professionals seek new employment, the new employers tend to somewhat close their eyes to the problem, while knowingly taking the risk that the persons concerned could again perform reprehensible acts".
It is interesting to underline that for the General Manager of the body responsible for the the supervision of Luxembourg Financial centre there may be an acceptance of employees that are not honest in a certain limit ("in too many cases"). Otherwise the wording whould have been "in some cases" or "in many cases". This is probably a sign of the pragmatism in Luxembourg.

CSSF_abstract_annual_report_2004.pdf




This means that the average employee in Luxembourg is either a sheep or a dubious guy.