Banks must go back to basics: princess

Thursday 05 March 2009

Banks have to go back to the basics of savings and lending, says princess Máxima, a former banker herself, according to the NRC.

Speaking at a meeting organised by green bank Triodos, the princess said bankers had lost sight of the core values of their profession.

Banks had used smooth sales talk to sell the wrong loans to vulnerable consumers who did not know what they were getting into, the paper quoted her as saying. ‘Only now are we beginning to see what the actual effect is...’ the princess said.

The core values of banking are trust, building up stable relationships and offering financial products with added value, she told her audience. ‘Neglecting these values lies at the heart of the crisis,’ the NRC quoted her as saying.

Before she met crown prince Willem-Alexander Máxima worked for Deutsche Bank and HSBC. But for the past three years she has been involved in a UN project to stimulate microfinancing.

© DutchNews.nl

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