[Sustainable and Ethical Banking In UK Banks]

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Sustainable and Ethical Banking In UK Banks

Literature Review

The relevance of the research topic and the publication year has been the criteria for the selection of appropriate literature. The usage of public, private and the online libraries has been made for the collection of the most valid available information. A few online databases for the gathering of data accessed are: Questia, Proquest, Pheonix, Ebsco and so on.

Ethics is the practice of applying ideas of right and wrong to create and uphold codes of behavior that help guide people. An ethical professional:

Follows the rules of fair and responsible conduct in his or her profession.

Exercises independent judgment to do the right thing, especially in situations not explicitly addressed in codes of conduct

While many people believe that adopting a formal code of ethics is not important, it may be surprising to learn that the formal study of ethics is necessary. Becoming an ethical professional involves study, learning new behaviors, and developing unique skills. Ethical professionals generally build relationships of trust and demonstrate courageous behaviors when their ethics are tested (Paulet, 2009, pp. 684).

The study of ethics is the study of human action and its moral adequacy. It is a branch of applied philosophy that considers the idea of what are, and what ought to be, good business practices. The text proceeds to specify that business ethics is, then, “the study of business action individual and corporate with special attention to its moral adequacy. I t is an applied ethical field that addresses activities in commerce.

Ethical banking and free banking, also known as social banking, banking development, multi-channel banking, banking and responsible banking alternative, is a project of financial institution that combines social and environmental benefits to economic profitability of conventional financial institutions. Social banking only provides ethical financial instruments; unlike the other banks may also offer financial products in addition to the conventional sustainable.

The importance of ethical behavior in the banking sector is especially important. In the banking sector alone there are seventeen categories of unethical behavior associated with honesty (lies and deception, theft and bribery), integrity (espionage, fraud and abuse), social responsibility (environmental harm, safety and invasion of privacy), accountability and fairness (conflict of interest, insider trading, unfair trade practices and bad judgment in management decisions).

The banking industry, like other industries, is not immune to ethically related dilemmas and failures. When a bank fails because of questionable business practices, lack of enforced regulations, and weak corporate governance, as did the renowned English Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in the early 1990s, the adverse impact may be extensive and devastating. Mitchell et al. cited other studies that indicate bank employees engage in a multitude of unethical behaviors such as conflict of interests, money laundering, embezzlement, false document filing, insider trading, and improper loans, and withdrawals. Mitchell et al. uncovered frequent employee unethical behaviors: “lies and deception, interest fraud and float abuse, bad judgment and cutting [procedural] corners and theft”.

Banking ethics are the moral or ethical principles ...