Ethics have been established as very important to every profession. This is because they guide the behaviour of professionals in a particular field to deliver their services.

There is no doubt that the corporate world would have been extremely chaotic without ethics.

This article places a special focus on the banking sector of Ghana's economy. Key banking disciplines include ethics, compliance, risk management, customer service, continuous learning, teamwork, and financial literacy. But this article pays particular attention to ethical breaches.

Recently, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Asiama, made a very 'blowing' remark about unethical behaviour among bank workers.

He said that while ethics is the backbone of trust, Ghana’s banking sector continues to face significant challenges in upholding these standards. Unethical practices, he said, remain widespread, with staff-related fraud on the rise.

He also made reference to the 2024 Bank of Ghana Fraud Report, which reveals a 5% rise in reported fraud cases, with a total value at risk increasing by 13% to approximately GH¢99 million.

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Asiama

The report highlights a surge in forgery, document manipulation, and identity theft. Notably, there was a significant increase in staff-involved fraud and fraudulent activities within the Payment Service Providers (PSP) sector, raising serious concerns about internal controls and ethical compliance across the industry.

This development ought to be a concern for all and sundry, especially as it is coming from the regulator. None should sit on the fences and assume that it doesn't concern them; it actually concerns everybody, whether you hold accounts with a bank or not.

Also, the impression it creates about Ghana's financial sector in the minds of expat investors could be detrimental to the financial sector. Imagine that a foreign business wants to invest a huge money in any of the local banks but receives reports of an increasing rate of bank fraud and unethical behaviour, this is not a good account for the banks.

To address this matter, the Bank of Ghana and the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) Ghana have formed a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening ethical standards and professionalism among banking professionals in Ghana – an initiative aimed at restoring public trust, curbing fraud, and fostering a sustainable banking culture.

As a key outcome of this collaboration, the CIB Ghana, in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB), has developed the Ghana Banking Code of Ethics and Business Conduct for banks in Ghana, as well as an E-learning Programme to promote best banking practices and high ethical standards within the banking sector.

The BoG issued other measures, including the introduction of Sustainable Banking Principles, directives on consumer protection, enhanced governance frameworks, and stricter oversight of digital lending and market conduct.

Beyond these measures, it is my view that further stricter measures, including naming and shaming of the bank's staff engaged in these practices, should be introduced by the regulator and the other bodies, given that Ghanaians recently went through a very painful financial sector cleanup and also the domestic debt restructuring. If bank workers realise that their pictures and identities will be put out for the reason of unethical practices, they will sit and live up to the task.

There could be an argument that the naming and shaming will be unbearable for them, and also it will flout the audi alteram partem principle, which says that "let the other side be heard as well".

Yes, it is a fundamental principle that whoever has been accused of wrongdoing should be given the opportunity to be heard; it has its roots in the Holy writings.

But the point is, by the time a decision is taken to name and shame the culprits, they would have been issued queries to explain themselves. Failure to provide a reasonable justification for their actions should lead to severe punishment.

The financial sector is the heartbeat of the economy; whenever the heart stops beating for even a minute, a person is on his or her way to the grave. Meaning, anything untoward that happens in the financial sector could cripple people for life; some can even lose their lives on account of losing their lifetime investments.

We do not want that to happen, well, let me say I do not want that to happen again.

It is recalled that many customers lost money during the banking sector cleanup exercise and the domestic debt exchange programme. I am not sure anybody would want to experience another setback in the financial sector again; therefore, any unethical behaviour of bank workers should be checked with alacrity, like the way a patient with a very low heartbeat will be attended to, in an expedited manner, by doctors.

Again, for the banks to deal with the unethical behaviours, there ought to be three main key strategies: Clear Policies, which require the creation of a conflict-of-interest policy and integrate it into employee training; Create an Ethics Committee which establishes a dedicated team to review and resolve conflicts fairly; and Transparent Reporting which encourages employees to disclose potential conflicts and address them proactively.

For instance, the Standard Bank Group, which says that it is “committed to establishing a culture of integrity, transparency, openness and compliance, in accordance with our Group Values and Code of Ethics”, tells customers that if you suspect any unethical behaviour (including theft, fraud or corruption) by any of their employees, clients or suppliers, it should be reported immediately to their independent whistleblowing reporting channel.

Given the threat that the increasing rate of unethical behaviour of bank workers poses to the financial sector, the Bank of Ghana, Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB), and Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) Ghana must do more than they are doing to ensure that the situation is nipped in the bud.

The author, Laud Nartey, is a Ghanaian journalist with a special interest in business reporting

Can be reached at Nartey.laud@yahoo.com

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