Exploring Compliance, Moral Tension, and Professional Meaning Among Banking Managers in Post-Crisis Financial Regulation
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Abstract
The increasing complexity of global financial regulation after the 2008 crisis has redefined the professional and ethical landscape of the banking sector. Within this evolving context, understanding how financial professionals experience and interpret compliance pressures has become essential for grasping the human dimension of post-crisis governance. Despite extensive research on regulatory effectiveness, little is known about the lived experience of bank managers as they navigate moral, psychological, and professional tensions under prudential regulation. This study applies an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) to explore how banking managers construct meaning around compliance, revealing the personal and ethical dynamics embedded in their everyday professional lives. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with twelve senior and mid-level managers from commercial banks operating under post-crisis prudential frameworks. The sample size of twelve participants was determined based on IPA methodological standards prioritizing depth over breadth, ensuring saturation of experiential themes. Validation procedures included member checking, intercoder agreement, and iterative audit-trail documentation to enhance analytical rigor. Thematic analysis identified five key experiential domains regulatory pressure, moral tension, adaptive strategies, emotional duality, and redefined professional identity highlighting compliance as a moral and existential negotiation rather than a procedural duty. These findings demonstrate that regulation functions not merely as a system of institutional control but as a lived moral experience that shapes professional consciousness and organizational culture. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of financial governance by integrating phenomenological insights into the human meaning of regulation and offers a foundation for future research on ethical resilience and reflective practice in financial management.
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