Financial services still the bottom of the ethical barrel, according to public perception
/New research shows that the Australian banking and finance industry is not faring well in our perception of ethics.
The Governance Institute releases its annual survey results in the Ethics Index on Australian industries, including the finance industry. Distrust of the financial services industry has been growing, in particular, a year out from the Royal Commission.
The survey asked over 1,000 people with different political and socioeconomic backgrounds about their perceptions on ethical issues and conduct.
Key findings of the survey include:
One in every two people regards financial services as either very or somewhat unethical
High executive salaries are seen as the most ethically important issue for the banking and finance sector - 74 per cent of respondents said it was unethical to offer a chief executive salary of over $3 million per year
Bribery and corruption ranked next on important issues, along with insufficient regulation, executive bonuses, lack of government action and treatment of customers lastly
Industry superannuation funds were considered our most ethical financial organisations
Financial advisers have improved their ranking by seven points since 2018
Investment banks gained points, while ‘independent’ superannuation funds lost points
Company secretaries are considered the most ethical people within a large corporate organisation
Directors of foreign companies operating in Australia are considered to be the least ethical
Along with the aged-care sector, media, corporate and banking, and finance and insurance sectors rated a perception of ‘neither ethical or unethical’
Banking, finance and insurance, media, large corporations and government sectors all have the largest gaps between the importance of ethics and how ethical they are perceived to be
The finance sector continues to have the lowest ethical rating (31 per cent) and the highest unethical rating (49 per cent) which shows very low trust and perceived behavioural standards
Within the finance sector, accountants scored the highest in ethical behaviour (50 per cent ethical score), but amongst organisations, industry super funds came out on top.
