Uphold trust, high ethical standards to safeguard credibility of banking industry …CIB Ghana urges
The Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) Ghana has called on bankers to uphold trust and high ethical standards in their professional conduct to strengthen and safeguard the credibility of Ghana’s banking industry.
The institute said ethical banking practices and responsible leadership must remain central to the operations of financial institutions.
The President of CIB Ghana, Dr Mrs Ellen Ohene Afoakwa, who made the call at the Ghana Banking Conference, held in Ada yesterday under the theme, “Banking on the Future: Trust, Technology and Transformation,” stressed that banks had a responsibility to serve customers fairly and efficiently while ensuring that innovation was guided by responsible decision-making.
She noted that the growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual assets, tokenisation and digital finance must be matched with strong ethical standards to sustain public confidence in the sector.
Dr Afoakwa said technological advancement alone could not guarantee the industry’s future without the trust of customers.
According to her, emerging technologies were reshaping banking operations in real time, and bankers must ensure that innovation did not undermine the values underpinning their professional conduct.
“The more technology advances, the more one truth stands out. Trust, ethics, professionalism and responsible leadership are the real currency,” she stated.
Dr Afoakwa also identified cybersecurity and the deployment of AI to combat fraud in international trade as critical areas requiring the attention of banks in the evolving financial landscape.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, in his keynote address delivered on his behalf by the Director of Communications of the BoG, Mr Bernard Otabil, said failures in the financial sector were partly attributable to poor corporate governance and insider dealings.
He stated that ethical conduct must go beyond regulatory compliance and become an integral part of the banking industry’s culture.
“A bank can have adequate capital, liquidity and sophisticated technology, but if its leadership lacks integrity and its internal controls are compromised, the institution remains fundamentally vulnerable,” he said.
Dr Asiama explained that the collapse of several financial institutions during the 2017–2019 financial sector clean-up demonstrated how compromised leadership and poor risk management by directors and senior managers could expose depositors’ funds and destabilise the wider economy.
He said the Corporate Governance Directive placed clear responsibilities on boards to establish risk management frameworks, ensure effective internal controls and promote ethical behaviour.
According to him, the increasing digitalisation of banking operations had introduced new cybersecurity risks, making staff accountability and ethical conduct just as important as technological safeguards.
Moreover, Dr Asiama noted that the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 Annual Report had identified several cyber risks across the banking sector, including inadequate safeguards for public-facing systems, weak security configurations, stolen login credentials and the takeover of active user sessions.
He urged boards and senior management to take ownership of the ethical culture of their respective institutions.
FROM PRINCE FRIMPONG ADDO, ADA
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
Read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
