The Prize Ethics and Trust in Finance for a Sustainable Future – until 2015 Ethics in Finance – Robin Cosgrove Prize – promotes new ways of thinking about the big challenges facing the global economy and finance. As a worldwide program running since 2006, we work with inspiring minds from across the financial and academic ecosystems to conceive of new models and shape better practices that strengthen the foundations upon which we build our world.
In today’s global system, where millions unable to access the financial services need to flourish, a more transparent, more accessible and inclusive model is required and is possible. Meanwhile, growing imperatives are driving new approaches to design more sustainable systems of provision of financial services able to limit our impact on the planet.
The Ethics and Trust in Finance Prize asks people under the age of 35 working in or studying finance to reimagine how financial institutions, together with their stakeholders, can balance the desire for growth, security and stability with these aspirations, to provide a meaningful response to the changing needs of the communities in which they operate.
We believe that ethics and trust in finance has a pivotal role to play in affecting a positive change in the world. Each edition we look forward to exploring bright new ideas from a diverse group of brilliant young people.
The competition invites creative papers setting out analyses or proposals for innovative ways to promote ethics & trust in finance. The Jury allocates the prize money of USD 20,000 among the winners.
CFA, Euroclear, Pictet Group, Swift/Swift Institute and ACCA are actively supporting the Prize and promote it to their members, their staff and to the wider financial services audience and corresponding academic institutions. Many other financial organizations across the world are promoting awareness of the Prize to their stakeholders and their younger staff.
Previous editions
The Prize today is a well recognized and highly respected endeavour. To date, in its global edition, the Prize has awarded 31 distinctions to outstanding authors coming from all continents.
In 2015, the International Monetary Fund [IMF], co-hosted the Award Ceremony for the 5th edition (2014/2015) of the global Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize. The Ceremony took place at the IMF headquarters in Washington, USA, at a special event on the 21st September 2015. Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, gave a keynote address and congratulated the Prize laureates.
In January 2018, the Award Ceremony of the 6th edition (2016/2017) was hosted by the Banque de France at its headquatrters in Paris. The Governor of Banque de France, Mr. François ViIlleroy de Galhau and Mr. Angel Gurria, the Secretary-General of OECD, gave keynote addresses and congratulated the winners.
In 2019, the Award Ceremony of the 7th edition (2018/2019) of the Global Prize Ethics & Trust in Finance took place, at the OECD headquarters in Paris. The Secretary General of the OECD, M. Angel Gurría, congratulated the Prize winners for “their ground-breaking work, their efforts in promoting ethics, responsibility and trust in the world of finance”.
On 18 December 2021, we celebrated the laureates of the 8th edition of the Prize at an (online) Award Ceremony hosted by the European Commission and featuring Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union as Keynote speaker. Preceding the Keynote address, a Round Table was organized to discuss the topic Does the focus on sustainability in finance make ethics redundant?
Since its inception, nearly two thousand individuals have expressed interest in submitting a paper for the Prize from over 130 countries. Final submissions considered by the global Jury have been in excess of 300.
The management of the Prize is carried out by the Observatoire de la Finance, which is a Swiss not-for-profit foundation. The distinguished international Jury of experts in ethics and finance is co-chaired by Mrs Josina Kamerling (CFA Institute, Brussels) and prof. Paul H. Dembinski (director of the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva)
2006-2016 History of the Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize