Bankers must worship integrity, ethics -- Patricia Sappor

The President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) Ghana, Reverend Mrs Patricia Sappor, has advised bankers and other employees in the banking sector to guard their integrity and the ethics of the profession jealously.

She said that was needed to help build and retain confidence between them and their customers for business to thrive smoothly.

Taking her turn on the Daily Graphic and the Graphic Business's specialise programme on banking, the Banking & More, on August 14, Mrs Sappor explained that the two attributes were the foundation upon which the banking profession thrived and any professional who lacked either of the two or both was bound to fail.

She added that a breakdown in integrity or ethics would also create cracks in the banker-customer relationship and that could lead to bigger problems for a bank and the industry as a whole.

Mrs Sappor, who is the first female President of the CIB, was commenting on how bankers and other bank staff could help improve public trust in banks to help prevent a repeat of the recent systemic challenges that led to the closure of nine banks and 411 other financial institutions.

Banking & More
The interview discussed the role of the CIB in maintaining and improving ethics, standards and professionalism, the impact of digitisation on banking jobs, the relevance of Chartered bankers in a highly digitised world and the way forward for the Institute after 42 years in existence.

Mrs Sappor, who is the retired Head of Marketing and Communications at Ecobank in charge of Anglophone West Africa, was the third guest on the specialise programme.

It is a prerecorded interview that is broadcast on the YouTube channel and the Facebook page of the Daily Graphic and the Graphic Business every Monday at 9am.

The Banking & More discussions are also available on www.graphic.com.gh and the Graphic NewsPlus, the digital version of the Graphic branded newspapers.

The initiative is meant to bridge the gap between banks and related service providers and their stakeholders through informed discussions that seek to shape policies and track the sector's response to changes and concerns.

Collapse of banks
On the collapse of rhe banks, the President of the CIB said the institute, just like other Ghanaians was saddened by the development.

Following from that, she said the CIB had collaborated with the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) to develop new modalities and a new code of conduct to guide the practice of banking and the profession in general.

That code, she said prioritised integrity and ethics.

"I believe that banking thrives on integrity and it thrives on ethics and, therefore, enforcing the banking code of conduct, going forward will really help the industry," she said.

New Act
She explained that the new code was due to be launched later this year after which members and the entire workforce in the banking sector would be required to comply with.

She expressed the hope that the code would compliment the Chartered Institute of Bankers Act (2019), Act 991 to strengthen the hands of regulators and the GAB in enforcing best practices.

Women in banking
While commending the Governing Council of the CIB and its members for the opportunity to become the first female President, Mrs Sappor said she was hopeful that her position would motivate women dream and aspire to higher positions in the sector and elsewhere.

She said although women were great performers, they tended to shy away from competition, an attribute she said must be discouraged.

"I will encourage to come out and compete where they have to and I will encourage men to support women to do that," she said.

Profile
Prior to becoming the President of the CIB in 2016, Mrs Sappor was it's Vice President.

She worked with Ecobank Ghana and Anglophone West Africa for more than 30 years.

She is due to hand over the mantel of leadership next year after four years in office.