Code of Conduct
What this domain tests
The Code of Conduct domain tests your knowledge of the written standards that govern employee behaviour-confidentiality, gifts, conflicts, market conduct-and the customer-facing codes: BCSBI's Code of Bank's Commitment to Customers and RBI's Fair Practices Code. Expect application questions, not recitation.
Core rules and concepts
- A bank's code of conduct translates values into rules: integrity, confidentiality, avoid conflict of interest, no insider trading, protect bank assets, report violations, cooperate with regulators.
- Confidentiality: customer data is given for a defined purpose and shared only on a need-to-know basis, with consent or legal authority. Unauthorised access is a breach even without loss.
- Gifts and hospitality must be nominal, disclosed and approved; the test is influence or appearance of influence, not the amount alone.
- BCSBI Code: minimum fair-treatment standards on transparency, privacy, grievance redressal and customer communication; member banks commit to it.
- RBI Fair Practices Code: transparent loan pricing, reasons for rejection, no harassment in recovery, proper notice before action.
- Breach can lead to disciplinary action, termination and regulatory consequences; 'following orders' is not a defence.
Worked example
A clerk accesses a celebrity customer's balance out of curiosity and shares a screenshot with friends. There is no money taken, but the access was not for a bank purpose and the disclosure was unauthorised. That breaches confidentiality and the code, and may also violate data-protection law. The correct response is to report the access immediately; 'no harm done' is not a defence.
Traps
Treating the code as aspirational; assuming fame removes privacy; 'small gift, no issue'; thinking reporting a colleague is disloyalty; treating social media as a private space.