Why responsible banking values matter?

Simon Thompson was appointed as Chief Executive of the Chartered Banker Institute in 2007 after working for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Central & Eastern Europe, and for the International Federation of Accountants. Under his leadership, the Institute has grown to become the largest professional body for bankers in the UK, with nearly 35,000 members and students in more than 100 countries.

Simon is the author of Green & Sustainable Finance: Principles and Practice, published by Kogan Page (www.koganpage.com/product/principles-and-practice-of-green-finance-9781789664546) and leads the Institute’s work in this area. He chairs the UK’s Green Finance Education Charter on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is a Board member of the UK’s Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC).  Simon is a former Vice President of the European Bank Training Network. 

You can visit Simons LinkedIn profile here.

Simone Dettling is the Banking lead for UNEP FI (who will speak via recorded messages for 5 minutes) Simone leads the Banking Team of the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), a global partnership between the UN and more than 200 banks, investors and insurers. As such she manages leadership initiatives with banks from over 60 countries around climate-aligned, sustainable finance. She holds an MA in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and during her career has lived and worked in various developing countries. Simone will be providing high-level messages around the Principles for Responsible Banking, bringing out the key messaging, and would be concluding by re-iterating the importance of global conferences like this, which like the Academy, help to create a community of responsible bankers.

Joy Macknight is a freelance journalist and former editor of The Banker, part of the Financial Times group. She joined The Banker in August 2015 as transaction banking and technology editor, was promoted to deputy editor in September 2016 and then to managing editor in April 2019, before becoming the first female editor in the publication’s history in March 2021. Previously, she was features editor at Profit & Loss, editorial director at Treasury Today and editor at gtnews. She also worked as staff writer on Banking Technology and IBM Computer Today, as well as a freelancer on Computer Weekly. 

Karl-Oskar Olming is Head of Sustainability Strategy and Policy at SEB Group and member of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance. At SEB, Mr. Olming leads a Sustainable Banking team responsible for the SEB Group’s sustainability related strategy, policy making, risk frameworks, product governance and regulatory affairs. Mr. Olming has 20 years’ experience from developing and applying approaches to sustainable development and due diligence in banking, export credits and the UN system.

Luanne Sieh, Senior Managing Director, Head of Group Sustainability, CIMB Group. She currently leads the Group Sustainability function at CIMB, one of ASEAN’s leading banking groups. With close to 20 years of experience, her background in strategy, business transformation and consulting has put me in an excellent position to pursue my latest mission to transform CIMB into a leader in sustainable finance and responsible banking in Asia.

James joined Lloyds Banking Group in 2020 on their Finance Graduate Programme where he has undertaken various roles within Group Costs, Mortgage Intermediaries and Group Strategy. Since joining, James received the Audience Award in the Chartered Banker Institute’s Young Banker of the Year 2021 competition for his proposal of a Sustainable Savings Account. James has also been a keen advocate for sustainability and responsible banking having spoken in MoneyLIVE 2022 ‘Leaders of tomorrow’ panel discussion on ‘Envisioning the bank of the future’.

James graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2020 with a first-class degree in BSc (Hons) Economics and was awarded the ‘First Year Economics Undergraduate Prize’ and the ‘Final Year Economics Undergraduate Prize’. He is also currently studying the CIMA Professional Qualification.

Wendy Dobson works as the Head, Group Corporate Citizenship at Standard Bank, and has previously worked as the Head, Group Policy, Advocacy and Sustainability and Head, Group Regulatory and Advocacy at the same bank. Overall, she comes with 13 years’ experience at Standard Bank.