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Regulators expect that practitioners that subscribe to Codes of Conduct follow them, there are two important things to remember:
- Whilst the FSA specifically authorises firms and approved persons, it does have a very strong view that the underlying culture of the firm is a key performance indicator of the overall likelihood of compliance of the firm. The more a firm can incorporate a code of Ethics and Conduct into its day to day practice the better
- The team of specialists who designed the Code of Ethics and Conduct have paid particular attention to ensure it dovetails with the requirements of the FSA
The CII will always respond to a complaint about a member, luckily disciplinary hearings have been rare. The disciplinary process really sets in when there is good evidence that a member has gone beyond simple carelessness or minor breach and entered into the realms of wilful, reckless, dishonest or unethical behaviour.
Good examples might be cheating in exams, plagiarising another person’s work, admitting or being found guilty of dishonesty, failing to maintain competence or CPD requirements of the CII.
Failure to comply with the Code does not indicate a lack of competence. A CII member who is perfectly competent to do a job may ignore the Code in many aspects and remain an honourable and valuable member of the financial services community.
However, by continually ignoring the Code, they might find themselves losing their membership and qualifications (very publicly). Ultimately it is unprofessional to subscribe to a professional body and ignore a code of ethics and conduct and such a failure tends to lead to bad reputation, financial loss, actions by a regulator etc.
Use the material as a gap analysis about knowledge and understanding of the Code. If you or a member of your staff has a problem with any area of the code please contact the CII who will be happy to give you guidance.
| CII Code of Ethics and Conduct | |
|---|---|
| Case Study 1 – General activity - Financial Adviser | |
| Case Study 2 – General activity - General Insurance Broker | |
| Case Study 3 – Generic paper on Training & Competence | |
| Case Study 4 – Generic paper on general behaviour and ethics | |
| Case Study 5 – Practice behaviour - General Insurance Broker | |
| Case Study 6 – General activity - Mortgage adviser | |
| Case Study 7 – General behaviour and ethics (Generic) Version I | |
| Case Study 8 – General behaviour and ethics (Generic) Version II |
