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ASIC has said the results of a survey examining ethics across the finance, accounting, banking and insurance sectors demonstrate a lack of accountability and self-assessment among professionals in financial services.
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ASIC ‘disappointed’ by survey results for industry ethics
21 September 2016
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Speaking at a panel event for the release of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand A Question of Ethics report, ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour said she was disappointed by some of the survey results in the report.
In the survey, the majority of financial services professionals identified their firm’s policies and procedures as the top driver of ethical behaviour in their organisation.
“Personally I was quite disappointed by that. I thought many financial services firms, particularly those firms that have been subject to a lot of regulatory action, have for a long time had very comprehensive policies and procedures and quite aspirational codes of conduct,” said Ms Armour.
“I was a little disappointed that people saw that as a key thing that was driving that conduct, and not examining their own reactions and reflections to their work ethic every day.”
Ms Armour said she was also concerned in relation to the results that financial services professionals are working in environments where they are not being encouraged to assess their own behaviour and challenge how ethics could be improved in their firm.
“I think it’s going to be more and more important that we’re willing to challenge the perceived wisdoms, [particularly] because of things like digital disruption and the pace of change,” she said.
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“The way things were done yesterday is not necessarily going to be the best way, or even the most profitable way, to do things tomorrow. So it’s necessary to do that.”
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