In 2011-2012, the Observatory for Responsible Innovation concentrated on the then (and always) pressing issue of responsibility and irresponsibility in financial innovation. A dedicated working group was formed with the twofold purpose of raising awareness on a series of particular hot topics and putting together an actionable proposal for the advancement of responsible innovation in finance. The working group included participants from a variety of backgrounds (financial services industry, regulation, management science, economics and sociology) and speaking in a variety of capacities (practice, analysis, compliance, assessment, etc.): Margaret Armstrong, Marc Lenglet, Yamina Taddjedine, Nadège Jassaud, Stéphane Delacôte, Guillaume Cornut, Alexandre Pointier, Yuval Millo, Daniel Beunza, Gilles Gantois, Malik Bozzo-Rey, Fabian Muniesa.
Main achievements included the organization of an international debate in November 2011 which counted on the participation of leading voices from the financial services industry, the regulatory environment, the social and economic sciences and the media. Have a look at the conference program here, and scroll down to the relevant video footage here.
In June 2012, a special award for responsible innovation in finance was delivered to a series of initiatives that connected with the orientations put forward by the working group. See the announcement here and video footage of the award ceremony here.
In addition, members of the working group authored a series of position papers centered on the articulation of one particular initiative: the reform of new product committees in investment banks. See the paper “Towards a practical approach to responsible innovation in finance: New Product Committees revisited”, available here from the Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance. Additional publications include the piece titled “Responsible innovation in finance: directions and implications”, available here, and the short executive summary “Responsibility in financial innovation: retooling New Product Committees”, available here from the Risk & Regulation Magazine.
