By Stanley Opara

Tuesday, 30 Nov 2010

The President and Chairman of Council, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Mr. ‘Laoye Jaiyesola, has said Nigerian bank chiefs should play by the rules at all times to restore people’s confidence in the finance sector.

Jaiyesola, who spoke at the 2010 Annual Retreat of ACAMB in Lagos on Friday, said banking business thrived absolutely on public confidence, and ACAMB as a champion of the image management of Nigeria‘s banking industry, had a crucial role to play.

With the theme, ”The Dynamism of Reputation Management in the New Banking Environment,” the CIBN boss said the forum was apt and timely, especially in the light of the current developments in the Nigerian banking industry in particular and the economy in general.

He said the enormous challenges arising from the global financial crisis, which did not spare the Nigerian financial sector, had made the job of ACAMB more challenging and difficult.

He, however, maintained that all stakeholders involved had the duty to make deliberate efforts in discharging their responsibilities ethically and professionally to engender trust and sustain positive image for the banking and finance industry.

The CIBN boss urged ACAMB to partner key stakeholders in the industry, the regulatory agencies and the media to restore the good reputation, perception and respect which the Nigerian banking industry once enjoyed.

”In addition to the immediate and onerous task of helping the industry to rebuild its damaged image, regain its lost respect and glory by partnering relevant stakeholders as well as ensuring that the industry is constantly positively presented in the media and the various publics, ACAMB should also help and encourage captains of banks who they work with to play according to the rules of the game at all times,” he said.

To achieve these goals, Jaiyeola urged ACAMB to partner CIBN in checking the misuse, manipulation or non-disclosure of material information to the various publics of the banking industry and stopping the practice of running down competition through deliberate misinformation.

He said the partnership could also be channeled towards changing the unethical practice of concealment of information, which was otherwise beneficial to the entire industry for selfish interests.

He added that the move would generally assist the CIBN in upholding the integrity of the banking and finance profession in order to instill public confidence in the system.

Source: Punch