The Goldman Sachs employee resignation letter has vindicated what society has been saying about Banks. Who knows if what he says is an accurate representation of events in Goldman. Disaffected employees are not averse in leaving a wake of destruction when they leave a firm. However, the difference with this resignation is the publication of the letter and how close it is to the public’s perception of banking and the appalling level of trust that people now have of financial services in which case this letter could be the cause célèbre to stir the industry to do something about it.

It therefore appears opportune that the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment has today issued a press release announcing their ‘Investing in Integrity’ initiative, taking the lead to address the concerns of the ex-Goldman employee’s letter and surely a step in the right direction to regaining the trust of society. One hopes that this initiative will be taken up by all financial services organisations to enable society at large to revise its opinion on the banking community as a whole.

Details on this worthy initiative can be found on the press release below:

New Charter Mark scheme invites business from all sectors to undertake external assessment in the name of integrity and ethics

Organisations are being invited to join a new accreditation system which shows that their businesses have in place appropriate ethical policies, procedures and practices demonstrating a commitment to act with integrity at all times.

Investing in Integrity (IiI) is a new initiative jointly developed by the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), two leading non-profit bodies who promote high standards of ethics and integrity in business and finance.

Subscribers to the Investing in Integrity process, which is available for whole organisations or business units in any sector, will have to carry out a comprehensive on-line self-assessment of their ethical policies, procedures and practices.

Once this is completed, they are invited to request an independent assessment, which will be carried out by Investing in Integrity partner, GoodCorporation, a global leader in the audit of corporate responsibility and business ethics. This is a requirement of full accreditation and will involve site visits, staff interviews, an employee survey and reviews of documentation.

The aim of this exercise is to ensure that responses that the subscriber gave to the self- assessment questions are supported in practice, an indication that the business “practices what it preaches”.

Successful organisations will then be awarded the Investing in Integrity charter mark for five years, which they can display, subject to annual self-certification that there has been no material change in the subscriber’s ethical policies, procedures and practices.

Balfour Beatty and IMI Group are the first companies to submit to the process. Ian Tyler, Chief Executive of Balfour Beatty said: “Increasingly, organisations that are determined to conduct business ethically are seeking ways of demonstrating that commitment to customers and other stakeholders and gaining better assurance that their partners and suppliers share that commitment. This is true of both public and private sector organisations, which are increasingly aware of the legal and reputational damage that third parties can cause them, if they do not operate to the same ethical standards. We believe that Investing in Integrity, backed by the IBE’s reputation in business ethics, can perform a valuable role in helping Balfour Beatty and other like-minded organisations to provide evidence of their commitment to act with integrity.”

Martin Lamb,  Chief Executive of IMI Group said: ”Doing business the right way, the IMI way, is at the heart of everything we do and we have welcomed the Investing in Integrity initiative as an independent way of checking that we are living up to the high ethical standards we set ourselves right across our global organisation. ”

Philippa Foster Back OBE, Director, and Institute of Business Ethics said: “Companies which aim high in everything they do, know the benefits of working ethically. The IBE is asked how an organisation can demonstrate that their code of ethics, policies and procedures are embedded with their employees. With the development of Investing in Integrity, they can do this.”

Simon Culhane Chartered FCSI, CISI CEO said: “The public has a distrustful attitude towards business and financial services and Investing in Integrity accreditation is intended to provide reassurance to the public that your business does have regard for matters which are important to your customers and the public, and that firms “practice what they preach”.

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