IntegrityMatters

Introduction

Integrity is central to the creation and maintenance of trust and underpins the foundations of the financial services industry. Every transaction, all advice given and public confidence rely on trust.
The loss of trust through an actual or perceived absence of integrity undermines these foundations and can create an environment in which business becomes paralysed.

There are numerous examples in both business and public life where failure to act with integrity has caused damage, ranging from temporary short term difficulties or embarrassment, to major structural problems which have, in some cases, resulted in the destruction of businesses.
Acting with integrity requires that we measure our behaviour and actions against four basic principles:

HONESTY

OPENNESS

TRANSPARENCY

FAIRNESS

When seeking to act with these four principles we can ask ourselves some simple questions about the actions which we are about to undertake, or the decisions which we are about to make:

Would an impartial third party consider my behaviour reasonable and acceptable?

Does what I have done comply with existing rules and legislation in both letter and spirit?

Would I feel uncomfortable if this matter and my part in it appeared in the press?

Or, at a more personal level, would I be happy to tell my family about it?

If you feel concerned at the response to any of these questions, ask yourself why and consider whether your behaviour is Honest, Open, Transparent and Fair.
Examine possible alternative courses of action and ask yourself the same questions. If, after examining all alternative solutions, you still do not feel comfortable, it should tell you that you are doing the wrong thing and should abandon the course of action altogether. The purpose of IntegrityMatters is to introduce you to the application of ethical behaviour in the context of day to day business situations using a series of scenarios, all of which are based upon events which have actually happened.
The construction of the workshop is designed to guide you through the process of recognizing when you have a dilemma which may have ethical as well as business considerations, assessing the nature of possible responses and choosing the most appropriate one.