Overview

The Banking and Financial Services Oath (BFSO) is an initiative of industry leaders, launched in 2014 following the global financial crisis, in affiliation with The Ethics Centre. The BFSO is an effort to improve our society by building trust and confidence in the financial services industry by strengthening the moral and ethical foundation beyond regulation, compliance and any professional standards, and by broadening expectations and discussions to include ethics, integrity and honesty. The Oath contains a set of commitments that individuals can freely adopt and apply as personal principles in their work, encouraging self-reflection and ethical decision-making. These are principles that complement and reinforce the norms of conduct highlighted by Commissioner Hayne in the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, in which Commissioner Hayne emphasises the need for institutions and staff in the financial services industry to have a clear understanding “of what is ethical, of what is efficient, honest and fair, of what is the 'right' thing to do”. These are the values that underpin the Oath.