Rules, ethics and responsibility in the financial sector

Few professions have as strict demands for probity as the financial sector. When you advise on money, poor advice can hurt a family for many years. Therefore there is both legislation, industry rules, and a strong ethics you must know and live up to.

Good advice means taking the customer's situation and needs as your starting point — not what gives the bank the most. You must inform about both advantages, disadvantages and costs, and you must explain risk so the customer actually understands what they are saying yes to. If a product does not suit the customer, you must say so.

You get access to very personal information: income, debt, divorces, illness. All of it is confidential. You must not talk about customers' situations with anyone who does not have a work-related need to know — not even with neighbors, friends, or family. Breach of confidentiality can cost you your job.

Banks have a duty to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. This means you must know your customer: who are they, where is their money coming from, and do the movements on the account make sense? If anything seems suspicious — such as large, unexplained deposits — you have a duty to react according to the bank's procedures.

• 01Confirm customer's identity with valid identification
• 02Understand the purpose of the customer relationship
• 03Be aware of unusual transactions
• 04Inform according to procedure—never guess or cover up anything.

You work under the bank's responsibility, but you also have a personal responsibility for what you do. Never take shortcuts, never hide a mistake and never let yourself be pressured — not even by a customer you like — to do something that goes against the rules. Speak up and ask your manager if you are in doubt.

“Trust comes on foot and disappears on horseback. In the financial sector, your credibility is the most important thing you own.”