General questions about the Robin Cosgrove Prize - Ethics in Finance From the list below choose one of our FAQs topics, then select an FAQ to read. If you have a question which is not in this section, please contact us. The Robin Cosgrove Prize is a competition. It invites young finance professionals and advanced students to submit a paper setting out innovative ideas to promote ethics and integrity in finance. The competition is open to young people interested in international finance and concerned with ethics aged 35 years or younger. Nationals of any country are encouraged to apply. We welcome papers from individuals or from small teams of 2 or 3 people. Whether you are employed or undertaking advanced studies, or simply interested in the topic, if you feel you can contribute to encouraging sustainable ways for promoting higher ethical standards in the finance sector, please apply! Join the global debate on ethics in finance. If you are interested in participating in the Ethics in Finance - Robin Cosgrove Prize, please complete the "expression of interest" form. This registration will not commit you. It would help the organizers arrange the details of the Prize. Your expression of interest is compulsory if you wish to submit an entry to the Prize and to receive formal information (rules, application form, etc.) from the organizers. Final deadline for submission of ALL papers for the 2010-2011 editions is 31st March 2011. For the global Prize, papers are accepted in English or in French. For the special Ibero-American edition, papers are accepted in Spanish or in Portuguese. This Jury has been delegated by the organizers with the task of selecting the most meritorious contributions from the eligible candidates and of designating the prize-winners for the Robin Cosgrove Prize. The Jury is composed of eminent persons who sit in their private capacity on a pro bono basis. To find out more about them, click here. We have established a robust and anonymous evaluation process. The authors' identity will not be known to the Jury until the nominations of the winners are announced. The Prize winners will be invited to a prestigious ceremony where they will meet many eminent specialists in the world of ethics and finance. In 2007 and 2009, the best seven papers were published in "Finance and Common Good / Bien Commun" and are available online on the Prize website (see History). In 2011, we plan to publish the 7-10 best papers and they will certainly be available online. Robin Cosgrove was an outstanding young investment banker who died in 2004, age 31. During his brief but brilliant career, he worked for several major investment banks mainly in Tokyo and London and enjoyed an extremely active life as a traveller and sportsman. He was consistently committed to excellence in everything he did. He was uncompromising in his demands of himself and of his colleagues, and believed passionately that sustainable success could come only from high standards of integrity and honesty. He travelled widely throughout Asia and Africa, where he developed plans to create a programme to aid young professionals in poorer countries to obtain the international awareness and commitment to ethical financing practice that he believed was essential to attract sustainable investment and so promote economic development. Sadly, his plans did not come to fruition before his untimely passing. This Prize is to honour him and his ideas, and to inspire young people wherever they are in the world to make a difference to the world of finance! Previous candidates included students and young professionals interested in all aspects of banking, accountancy, insurance, sustainable finance, responsible investing and micro-finance. In 2007, the best seven papers were published in Finance and Common Good / Bien Commun [No27, Geneva, 2007] and are available online on the website. They were: In 2009, the best 8 papers were published in Finance and the Common Good/Bien Commun [No 33,Geneva, 2009] and are available on the website. Entries for the global Prize: Entries for the Ibero-American edition of the Prize: The winners papers of the global and iberoamerican Prize were also published in a special issue in Spanish and Portuguese, thanks to the support of MAPFRE: The Ethics in Finance - Robin Cosgrove Prize is an independent not-for-profit organization. It is supported with contributions in kind and by donations. The Observatoire de la Finance manages the Prize as an integral part of its activities. Some partners have provided significant support to disseminating information about the Prize by publishing announcements. Financial donations have been received from a wide range of individuals, especially from Robin's family and friends, and from donors in the world of finance. The Directors of the Prize, Dr Carol Cosgrove-Sacks and Dr Paul H. Dembinski, both work on a benevolent basis for the Prize. The main theme for the Prize is "Innovative Ideas for Ethics in Finance". This covers a huge range of possible topics and we welcome your own views on how ethics and finance are linked and interdependent in a variety of contexts. The participants for earlier Prizes wrote on a broad range of topics, including regulation and compliance, ratings for ethical investment, calculating benefits of ethics in finance, micro-finance issues, gender challenges in ethics in finance, transparency and anti-corruption campaigns, ethics as the key to sustainability of the financial system, globalization and ethics in finance, diverse cultural approaches to ethics in finance, ethics & interest rates, the challenges of cash management, and the implications for ethics of the financialization of the world economy.All these topics offer a wide range of choices for specific approaches. We would also welcome papers on such issues as "Ethics and Aid", "Islamic Banking and Ethics", and "Challenges of Monitoring Ethics in Finance". In some jurisdictions donors to the Robin Cosgrove Prize benefit from eligibility for tax benefits. In Switzerland, donations benefit from the not-for-profit foundation status of the Observatoire de la Finance. In United Kingdom, the Robin Cosgrove Prize is supported by the Robin Cosgrove Fund, part of Servants Fellowship International, registered charity number 280859. Under EU rules there is reciprocal recognition of eligibility for special tax treatment. For more information contact us. Negotiations are ongoing for tax eligibility status in North America.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Robin Cosgrove Prize for Ethics in Finance?
There are two Prizes:
We invite your ideas about how to strengthen ethical behaviour. Doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do may seem simple but in many areas of finance, consideration of ethics and integrity are squeezed.
The Prize was set-up in 2006 and first awarded in 2007. The second edition of the Prize was run from 2008-9.
The third edition of the global Prize (and the second of the Ibero-American Prize) will run in 2010-2011.
Who is eligible to apply to the Robin Cosgrove Prize?
How do I apply?
When is the entry Deadline?
In what languages?
Who is on the Jury and how do they decide?
Will my paper be published?
Who was Robin Cosgrove?
Who were the previous Prize winners and what did they write about?
They were:
Where do the funds come from?
What topics are eligible for the Prize?
How can I contribute to the sustainability of the Prize?
What about the tax treatment of financial donations to the Robin Cosgrove Prize?
