Our ENLIGHTEN partner Finance Watch released on 7.12.2016 a new report entitled “Representation of the public interest in banking”. The report asks what blocks the public from participating in deciding what banks do and how they are regulated; it goes on to outline numerous policy proposals gathered from debate with wider civil society.
Download report (PDF): “Representation of the public interest in banking”
The report is the culmination of a two-year research project with civil society and launches with a public conference in Brussels on 7 December 2016.
Christophe Nijdam, Secretary General of Finance Watch, said:
“Despite the infusions of large amounts of public money into large financial institutions and the ongoing implicit state guarantees provided to the global financial system, the public interest continues to lack formal representation in banking. This report addresses that problem.”
The project also inspired a blog series featuring guest authors from among the workshops’ participants. The project hopes to build on initiatives such as the Citizens’ Dashboard of Finance, which aims to create a space where the public can inform themselves about the impact of finance on society and pool ideas for a new vision of the financial sector.
The proposals developed during the workshops and outlined in the last chapter are designed to trigger new initiatives and to serve as inspiration for civil society organisations, public institutions, law makers and bankers in the future.