FINSIA President David Gall makes passionate plea for industry leaders to embrace professionalism as his tenure ends
FINSIA President David Gall stepped down from his role after four years with a passionate call for leadership along the professionalism pathway.
The senior NAB executive - recently promoted to the role of Chief Customer Officer, Corporate & Institutional Banking - acknowledged the challenges facing the industry, especially in the light of the Royal Commission.
But he insisted it is time to grapple with issues raised by the inquiry and restore the trust in an industry that is vital to “our economy and the financial wellbeing of many Australians”.
SF FIN Gall said: “There are big challenges for us all, with the industry undergoing rapid transformation, driven by consumers, technology and regulation.
“In the last twelve months, the Royal Commission in particular has really put the spot light on our industry. It has been a big wake up call.
“We have seen instances of misconduct and where we have not lived up to community expectations.
“The Royal Commission was far broader than the 76 final recommendations and has challenged our industry on leadership, accountability, how we treat our customers, governance and culture.
“We as an industry have a big job ahead of us in restoring trust and confidence in our sector.
“This is a leadership opportunity for us all, one that we should actively embrace.
“The last twelve months have also strongly reinforced that FINSIA’s strategy and purpose to professionalise the financial services industry is the right one and this is the right time.”
FINSIA’s return to the education space with the range of qualifications - covering all aspects of banking from teller level all the way to the C-suite - to restore the very highest professional standards has been taken up by seven major institutions.
He added: “In May last year, the FINSIA team successfully launched the Professional Banking Fundamentals program to the Australian market.
“This is the first stage of the Chartered Banker qualifications pathway and so far we have had around 300 enrolments, which is a fantastic start.
“In the second half of the year, FINSIA released to the market the next qualification on the Chartered Banker pathway, the Certified Professional Banker.
“We now have pilot programs with two financial institutions and are continuing to build on this in 2019.
“And in October, FINSIA also launched the Chartered Banker by Experience program which is a 12-week program designed for the experienced banking professional.
“On completion of the course the senior banker is awarded the global gold standard in banking - the Chartered Banker status.”
Gall reflected on FINSIA’s investment in on-going educational and informative events that brought thousands of members and non-members to more than 60 workshops, seminars and networking events.
The Regulators Panel and The Summit, which was revived after a three-year hiatus, saw hundreds of delegates hear from high profile industry leaders. The list of luminaries included RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle, and for the first time APRA’s Deputy Chair, John Lonsdale and ASIC Commissioner John Price,
Dame Susan Rice, Chair of the Chartered Banker Professional Standards Board,
ABA chief executive Anna Bligh, APRA’s Wayne Byres, and ASIC’s James Shipton.
“We continue to grow our membership with a 28% increase from last year,” he told the AGM.
“We also had a 38% increase in revenue from our events program, which is invested back into developing education programs for our members.
“I am a passionate believer in our strategy and feel excited for what we have so far achieved in building education programs and events that will raise professional standards and help to rebuild trust, confidence and pride in our industry.”
