Business Communication and Professional Ethics
Business Communication and Professional Ethics tests clear writing, workplace communication and ethical judgment in banking: emails, reports, minutes, negotiation, listening, confidentiality, conflicts of interest and AML obligations.
Core rules
- Write for the reader: state the purpose early, use short paragraphs, define technical terms, and separate facts from recommendations.
- Choose the channel by urgency and sensitivity; a disciplinary or credit-decline conversation should not be handled by a group chat.
- Reports need an executive summary, findings, analysis, conclusion and recommendations with sources.
- Ethics is broader than legality: confidentiality, integrity, objectivity, competence and professional behaviour.
- Gifts, facilitation payments and outside interests can create conflicts; disclose and follow bank policy. Suspicious transactions must be reported to compliance/AML, not investigated personally.
Worked example
A borrower offers a relationship manager an expensive watch to speed up a pending limit. The manager thanks the customer, declines the gift, explains that approval follows credit policy, and records the offer in the gift/conflict register. The manager informs the line manager and avoids any action that could look like favouritism. The credit file continues on its merits. This protects the manager, the customer and the bank; accepting even a small gift can create an obligation and breach the code of conduct.
Traps
- Replying-all with customer data or internal comments.
- Hiding a delay from the customer until they complain.
- Treating a legal loophole as ethical permission.
- Discussing a customer’s account with a colleague who has no business need.
- Writing a report with conclusions but no evidence.