Ethics news and snippets from around the world

Australia

• An Australian financial services probe led by a Royal Commission has highlighted the need for corporate ethical training  The Royal Commission noted that it will recommend criminal charges against some of the country’s biggest money managers when it reports to the government this month.

 

• Australian Executive Recruiter for the Financial Services, Stephen Atherton reports that employee sentiment is strongly in favour of ethical and moral corporate behaviour and that means recruitment is one part of the Australian financial services sector that is winning ‘the war for talent’ based on values, ethics and behaviour. Candidates want to work for organisations that genuinely make a difference, and demonstrate ethical behaviour. Good candidates seek strong organisations that are profitable and dynamic, but who also care about their staff and their customers, not just their profit or share price or bonuses. Read Atherton's LinkedIN blog ‘Compare the pair indeed!’ for more on this.

 

• Customers hold that the drivers of trust in Financial Services are in systems to protect data and privacy, ethics and social responsibility and the belief that firms are putting customers' interests first. According to the Restoring trust in financial services in the digital era report, which was commissioned by Salesforce in Australia and published by Deloitte, 34% of customers believe the industry can be trusted.

 

• The above perspectives do not mean all is rosy, however. The The Australian Government’s Ethics Index 2018 indicates that consumers place a high value on ethical business practices – but that expectations are not being met in many sectors, notably financial services. Here’s more in this in a report  produced by Gallagher Australia. 

 

The United Kingdom

The UK-based CFA Institute’s Crisis of Culture Report reports that ‘53% of 382 senior financial services respondents think that career progression at their firm would be difficult without being flexible on ethical standards.’

Global

• Whistleblower protection is important. However, what about those who are accused of misconduct? Read 5 tips  from the EQS Group on how you can protect them.  Companies ‘must ensure that they protect not only whistleblowers, but those who may be accused. Legal principles, such as the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven, are just as important as the protection of personal data of whistleblowers. Define clear and transparent processes to protect all involved parties and communicate them within the company.’

 

• For useful guidance on making better ethical decisions and avoiding saying one thing but doing another, read 3 Tips  courtesy of ‘Stacyknows’, an international ethics expert.