For many in the UK, the nationalisation of lender Northern Rock 10 years ago provided the first indication of the global banking system’s weaknesses. The industry’s international reputation was shredded not only by a string of bank failures but by the emergence soon after of systematic collusion and market-rigging, and the institutional mis-selling of products for huge profit. The living standards of millions of ordinary people were hammered hard — and many are still paying the price.

There has been a raft of new regulation seeking to prevent this from happening again. But that alone is not enough, as the UK Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards made clear in its 2013 report that followed the Libor rate-rigging scandal. The commission identified a lack of basic standards of professionalism as another large part of the problem The report challenged policymakers and regulators — but principally the banking sector itself — to take responsibility for raising the bar.

Today, the Banking Standards Board, a private-sector body founded in the wake of that report, calls on the industry to take the next step. We are publishing a statement of principles that challenges firms to make a strategic commitment to strengthening professionalism across their organisations and provides a practical blueprint for doing so.