What is it about bankers? First we had the IMF's Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sex charges involving a Manhattan chamber maid. Now we have reports that former chairman of one of Egypt's major banks has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing a maid at a Manhattan hotel.
Experts are now saying that bankers are more likely to be the types who think they don't have to follow the rules, they're psychopaths. According to the Financial Times, they say the characteristics that make for good traders and investment bankers are pretty much the same as those that define psychopaths. Robert Hare, a leading specialist who has designed tests to detect psychopaths says that banks are more likely to hire psychopaths. They are self-centred and motivated by money, charismatic and unafraid to take risks. In other words, they fit the stereotype perfectly – and would make great bankers.
But that is a worry because how do you regulate people like that? New rules and tougher enforcement are likely to be met by more outright deceit. Psychopaths are all but immune to threats of punishment. Professor Hare conducted an experiment which showed that when faced with a countdown to a painful electric shock, most people showed visible signs of anxiety. But he found that psychopaths did not even break a sweat.
Maybe the only answer is for regulators to start testing banks and their executives for psychopathic traits.
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