The highest standard of integrity and professionalism by employees of financial institutions is critical to sustain public confidence in the financial sector. The behaviour of each individual employed by a financial institution may be perceived publicly to be a reflection of the broader state of conduct and culture within the financial sector. In this regard, a financial institution’s recruitment processes play an important role. They present a critical opportunity for a financial institution to select individuals who are aligned with its desired corporate culture and values. They also serve as a means for a financial institution to identify individuals who are predisposed to misconduct and thereby mitigate the risk of ‘rolling bad apples’ within the industry.
The Bank aims to promote an ethical workforce for the financial industry. Financial institutions can play an important role in this respect. To this end, this policy document seeks to strengthen the screening practices of financial institutions and the conditions for meaningful disclosures for employment references. Supported by greater transparency in conduct histories, financial institutions are expected to be better placed to make informed decisions on candidates. Financial institutions will continue to retain full discretion over recruitment strategies and final hiring decisions. These, however, should be informed by a broad range of considerations. It is not intended that financial institutions rely solely on the outcomes of screening carried out in accordance with this policy document. Instead, results obtained through the screening should be taken as a signal for greater scrutiny to facilitate character assessments of a candidate by the hiring institution.
This document belongs to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). Full access to the original source is available here: https://www.bnm.gov.my/banking-islamic-banking
