Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The 2026 Centre for Ethics and Law Annual Lecture - A UCL200 event
Speaker: Dame Susan Rice DBE, Chair, GEFI (Global Ethical Finance Initiative)
Chair: Dr Anna Donovan, UCL
About the event:
Trust in financial relationships is paramount, yet an organisation can’t legislate for trust, or train for it, or simply declare its existence. Trust has to be earned over and over.
In the wake of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) and mis-selling scandals, the UK’s Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards set out in 2012 to “conduct an inquiry into professional standards and culture in the UK banking sector……” The Commission proposed several ways “to restore trust”. Five reports,100 recommendations, and more than a decade later, quite a lot has changed for banks and financial services.
It was clear at the time that the industry would and should be ‘done to’. But some bankers set out to be proactive as well. Two enterprises emerged from within the industry, one dealing with trust and organisational culture and the other with professional standards for bankers. Both were groundbreaking in the UK and beyond.
As chair of both initiatives and a banker, Dame Susan Rice will discuss what was created, the impact on organisations and their people, alongside a wider view of that most elusive of characteristics - trust.
About the speaker:
With a career that spans medical research, leadership roles in higher education and then banking, Dame Susan chairs GEFI (Global Ethical Finance Initiative) which sits at the hub of the ethical finance movement internationally. She also chairs Forth Green Freeport Ltd, attracting inward investment to deliver the green reindustrialization of Scotland aligned with fair work.
The first woman to head a UK or European clearing bank as Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland plc, she was inter alia director of the Bank of England, senior independent director of both J Sainsbury's plc and SSE plc, chair of Scottish Water and lay member of Court at Edinburgh University.
Currently a Non-executive Member of the UK's Office for Budget Responsibility, she was founding chair of Scotland's Fiscal Commission, the country’s official, independent economic and fiscal forecaster. She has chaired several Scottish arts organisations including the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Focused on the creation of long-term value in business and enterprise, she helped develop numerous social finance and impact investing entities in the US and the UK and advised the UK’s Place-based Climate Action Network.
A longstanding voice on ethics in finance, she chaired the Financial Services Culture Board which developed a unique analytical framework to raise standards of behaviour and competence in financial services and, with the Chartered Banker Institute, she led her industry to support the creation, for the first time, of professional standards for bankers.
Alongside a number of honorary degrees and professional fellowships, Dame Susan is a Freeman of the City of London.
About the chair:
Anna Donovan is an Associate Professor of corporate law at UCL Faculty of Laws and is the Director of the UCL Centre for Ethics & Law.
Anna’s work sits at the intersection of corporate law and behaviour, exploring how institutional rules shape human behaviour across legal fields including corruption, ethics and technology. Her recent monograph, Reconceptualising Corporate Compliance, was joint runner up for the Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship and she co-edits Pettet, Lowry and Reisberg’s Company Law. Anna was previously the Vice Dean (Innovation) at the Faculty of Laws. She is a member of the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies and a former panel member of LawtechUK.
Prior to academia Anna was a corporate solicitor in the City and she is also admitted as an attorney in New York.
About UCL Centre for Ethics & Law
The UCL Centre for Ethics & Law brings together leading academics, practitioners and policy makers to support cutting edge and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of ethics and law. Subscribe to receive updates on the centre and similar events.
About UCL200
UCL200 marks the bicentenary of University College London — 200 years since our founding in 1826 and our legacy of pioneering education, research, and community.
Throughout 2026, UCL will host a vibrant programme of events and activities celebrating our founding values, our global impact, our communities, and our vision for the future. Visit the UCL200 website to explore the full programme and learn how you can get involved.
To see how UCL Laws is contributing to this landmark year — with events, stories, and initiatives highlighting two centuries of legal scholarship and impact — visit the UCL Laws UCL200 page.
The 2026 Centre for Ethics and Law Annual Lecture - A UCL200 event
Speaker: Dame Susan Rice DBE, Chair, GEFI (Global Ethical Finance Initiative)
Chair: Dr Anna Donovan, UCL
About the event:
Trust in financial relationships is paramount, yet an organisation can’t legislate for trust, or train for it, or simply declare its existence. Trust has to be earned over and over.
In the wake of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) and mis-selling scandals, the UK’s Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards set out in 2012 to “conduct an inquiry into professional standards and culture in the UK banking sector……” The Commission proposed several ways “to restore trust”. Five reports,100 recommendations, and more than a decade later, quite a lot has changed for banks and financial services.
It was clear at the time that the industry would and should be ‘done to’. But some bankers set out to be proactive as well. Two enterprises emerged from within the industry, one dealing with trust and organisational culture and the other with professional standards for bankers. Both were groundbreaking in the UK and beyond.
As chair of both initiatives and a banker, Dame Susan Rice will discuss what was created, the impact on organisations and their people, alongside a wider view of that most elusive of characteristics - trust.
About the speaker:
With a career that spans medical research, leadership roles in higher education and then banking, Dame Susan chairs GEFI (Global Ethical Finance Initiative) which sits at the hub of the ethical finance movement internationally. She also chairs Forth Green Freeport Ltd, attracting inward investment to deliver the green reindustrialization of Scotland aligned with fair work.
The first woman to head a UK or European clearing bank as Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland plc, she was inter alia director of the Bank of England, senior independent director of both J Sainsbury's plc and SSE plc, chair of Scottish Water and lay member of Court at Edinburgh University.
Currently a Non-executive Member of the UK's Office for Budget Responsibility, she was founding chair of Scotland's Fiscal Commission, the country’s official, independent economic and fiscal forecaster. She has chaired several Scottish arts organisations including the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Focused on the creation of long-term value in business and enterprise, she helped develop numerous social finance and impact investing entities in the US and the UK and advised the UK’s Place-based Climate Action Network.
A longstanding voice on ethics in finance, she chaired the Financial Services Culture Board which developed a unique analytical framework to raise standards of behaviour and competence in financial services and, with the Chartered Banker Institute, she led her industry to support the creation, for the first time, of professional standards for bankers.
Alongside a number of honorary degrees and professional fellowships, Dame Susan is a Freeman of the City of London.
About the chair:
Anna Donovan is an Associate Professor of corporate law at UCL Faculty of Laws and is the Director of the UCL Centre for Ethics & Law.
Anna’s work sits at the intersection of corporate law and behaviour, exploring how institutional rules shape human behaviour across legal fields including corruption, ethics and technology. Her recent monograph, Reconceptualising Corporate Compliance, was joint runner up for the Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship and she co-edits Pettet, Lowry and Reisberg’s Company Law. Anna was previously the Vice Dean (Innovation) at the Faculty of Laws. She is a member of the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies and a former panel member of LawtechUK.
Prior to academia Anna was a corporate solicitor in the City and she is also admitted as an attorney in New York.
About UCL Centre for Ethics & Law
The UCL Centre for Ethics & Law brings together leading academics, practitioners and policy makers to support cutting edge and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of ethics and law. Subscribe to receive updates on the centre and similar events.
About UCL200
UCL200 marks the bicentenary of University College London — 200 years since our founding in 1826 and our legacy of pioneering education, research, and community.
Throughout 2026, UCL will host a vibrant programme of events and activities celebrating our founding values, our global impact, our communities, and our vision for the future. Visit the UCL200 website to explore the full programme and learn how you can get involved.
To see how UCL Laws is contributing to this landmark year — with events, stories, and initiatives highlighting two centuries of legal scholarship and impact — visit the UCL Laws UCL200 page.
