Faith and Finance

I was intrigued last evening to attend a panel discussion with the title "What Can Faith and Finance Learn from Each Other" arranged by the Faiths Forum for London, Council of Christians and Jews and PwC, in whose stunning premises we met on the London's Riverside.

There was an impressive panel assembled;

• Alpesh Patel, Principal, Praefinium partners, author and broadcaster
• Revd Charles Hodson, Church of England and freelance business TV anchor
• Lord Fink, CEO, ISAM and former CEO of Man Group
• Tarek el-Diwany, partner of Zest Advisory, author on Islamic finance

The panel addressed not only what finance could learn from faith but also the converse, drawing upon their experience of the world of business.

I was struck by the statement made by PwC's premises; a new gleaming glass tower with a wonderful atrium. This was the wealth generated by the private sector in the midst of growing inequality in London. It was pleasing that the London Living Wage was highlighted when Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor for Business and Finance, replied to the panel. Corporate social responsibility is in vogue but must mean much more than being willing to host community and faith groups, valuable as this is. 

Points which struck me:

• the importance of trust in the City and in life; sadly missing in the "Banking Crisis" 
• be good at your job and do your duty and the fruits will follow
• be brave in the face of others in standing up for what is right
• significance of positive and negative role models to personal development 
• it is not creating wealth and maximising profits that matter according to Abrahamic faiths but what you do with it, which however, contrasted with view of the Dharmic faiths that we need to free from wealth and desire

In terms of what faith can learn from finance just think about capitalism's single minded focus on profit and then what faith groups are about? It was also emphasised that modern finance capitalism in Britain took two hundred years to develop; it was not done overnight, yet overturned perhaps thousands of years of religious teaching, for example against interest and usury. Faith's response needed to be similarly long-term and professional.

It was interesting that members of PcW's five faith networks attended and that the role of faith was recognised so explicitly in the workplace. Yet as one attendee emphasised the former role of workplace industrial chaplain has disappeared within the Churches.

To find out more read the twitter stream on the event hashtag #faithfinance

To see photographs of the event 

  

Campaign for Robin Hood Tax intensifies

I have given my support to the following letter to the Prime Minister from chief executives of a range of voluntary sector and other organisations who support the Robin Hood Campaign for a financial transactions tax

28 October 2011

Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A

Dear Prime Minister,


In February 2010 we launched the Robin Hood Tax campaign, calling for a tiny tax on financial transactions to tackle poverty at home and overseas, provide vaccines and life saving treatment for the world’s most vulnerable, and tackle the impacts of climate change. Eighteen months later we are just days away from a G20 summit where a financial transactions tax (FTT) will be debated. We have the support of over 115 organisations in the UK, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, 1000 international economists, hundreds of parliamentarians, campaigners in over 50 countries, world leaders such as Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, and global figures such as Bill Gates.

But we don’t yet have the support of the UK Government.

We are calling on you to change this now, and work with other G20 countries to introduce a Financial Transactions Tax when you attend the G20 summit in Cannes. Your government has said that you are not opposed to an international financial transactions tax and that you will engage on this issue. But we fear that instead the UK Government is acting to block debate. This is despite the fact that the UK has one of the largest transaction taxes in the world, the stamp duty on shares, and is a world leader in showing how to design and implement such taxes without global agreement.

The UK is also leading the world with its commitment to reach 0.7% of GNI as ODA and is in a position of strength to champion development and climate finance. We therefore also call on you to argue that the revenues from an FTT are used in part to support international development efforts, and to provide the minimum $100bn pledged for climate finance.

A Robin Hood Tax would be the most popular tax in history. While you are at Cannes, please act for those hit hardest by the financial crisis. Act to protect essential public services in the UK, to tackle poverty at home and overseas, and to address climate change.