The main effort to regain trust must come from bankers, in particular from banks’ management and their boards as the tone from the top as well as the accountability of banks’ top management are key for risk culture and staff’s behaviour. Without their active effort, society will not start to trust again.
What is deemed “sufficient” depends on the individual case, of course, and it follows the principle of proportionality. German banks would in any case not violate the law if their supervisory boards had more independent members. Banks and shareholders would even benefit from stronger checks and balances, more diversity and new perspectives, which would help to counter the risk of groupthink.