The topic Many people are now calling for a ‘change in the culture’ of the financial system in the United Kingdom. A group of us in Oxford are investigating what such a change in culture might involve and how it might be brought about. The first step, we argue, will need to be a move towards a much greater degree of professionalism within the financial services industry. The aim will be to create an environment in which service to clients is sustained by a continuing relationship, carried out with integrity. We believe that a second step is also necessary. The financial system must allow more appropriate forms of corporate governance in the firms to which it provides finance. The aim must be, we argue, for an outcome in which firms are able to support the needs of a range of stakeholders, and a range of social purposes, rather than merely being required to maximise short-term shareholder value. These are two big cultural changes. A Banking Standards Board has been created within the United Kingdom, and this new institution will clearly play a role in nudging the financial services industry in the direction both of promoting increased professionalism of its workers and of allowing better corporate governance of the firms which it finances. But we argue that - more than this - the work of this institution will need to be supported by changes in the legal and regulatory systems. These systems will clearly need to go on preventing bad behaviour. But they will also have a role to play in the promotion of good behaviour - and in ensuring, ultimately, that there is an improvement in the quality of the service that the financial industry provides.   The speaker David is Professor of Economics and Fellow of Balliol College at the University of Oxford. His presentation will draw from a book he has co-authored with Nick Morris and Sue Jaffer. To plan for numbers please let Joe Dimasi know if you are able to come along at: joe.dimasi@monash.edu