THE CALL · CONFIDENTIALITY · 1 OF 4
Over lunch, one of your clients asks about a competitor that is also your client: 'I hear they're struggling. Are they?'
// THE GROUNDWORK / E · THE CONDUCT23 FILES · ONE MINUTE EACH
THE IN-TRAY · THE GROUNDWORK · E
The Conduct
By what rules?
How the banker behaves: what is kept confidential, what is a conflict, what may not be traded on, what is fair to sell, and whose money the bank must not move.
// E1 · CONFIDENTIALITY
SIGNAL OR NOISE · CONFIDENTIALITY · 2 OF 4
A colleague in corporate finance asks to see the management accounts of one of your lending clients, 'to get a feel for the sector'.
Signal or noise?
THE CALL · CONFIDENTIALITY · 3 OF 4
A journalist calls and asks you to confirm that a well-known client has breached its loan covenants. 'Everyone knows,' she says.
Your move?
SIGNAL OR NOISE · CONFIDENTIALITY · 4 OF 4
You learn that a client's accounts, which you emailed to a colleague last month, were forwarded to an outside adviser the client has never used.
Signal or noise?
4 FILES · PICK A CALL ON ANY OF THEM
// E2 · CONFLICTS
THE CALL · CONFLICTS · 1 OF 6
A borrower whose loan you are about to recommend sends you two tickets to a final, worth about US$1,000.
Your move?
WHAT THEY HEAR · CONFLICTS · 2 OF 6
A borrower's accountant offers to send you new clients: 'and we'll make it worth your while.'
What should you hear?
THE CALL · CONFLICTS · 3 OF 6
Your partner is a director of a company that has just applied to your bank for a loan, and the file has been assigned to you.
Your move?
SIGNAL OR NOISE · CONFLICTS · 4 OF 6
A year ago you declared a small shareholding in a client and compliance cleared it. Through an inheritance, the holding has since become a significant stake.
Signal or noise?
THE CALL · CONFLICTS · 5 OF 6
The bank's advisory team helped a client build the forecast in its loan application. The credit team is now asked to rely on that forecast.
Your move, as credit?
SIGNAL OR NOISE · CONFLICTS · 6 OF 6
You have managed the same client for twelve years, know its family well, and have never declined a request. A new request arrives with weaker numbers than usual.
Signal or noise?
6 FILES · PICK A CALL ON ANY OF THEM
// E3 · MARKET INTEGRITY
THE CALL · MARKET INTEGRITY · 1 OF 4
A listed borrower tells you in confidence that it will announce a large loss next week. A friend asks whether they should sell their shares in it.
Your move?
SIGNAL OR NOISE · MARKET INTEGRITY · 2 OF 4
After a credit meeting with a listed client, you notice that a colleague who sat in has bought its shares.
Signal or noise?
THE FIRST QUESTION · MARKET INTEGRITY · 3 OF 4
In a credit meeting, a listed client mentions it is in talks to buy a competitor. The talks are not public.
What do you do first after the meeting?
THE CALL · MARKET INTEGRITY · 4 OF 4
You bought shares in a company last month, before joining the team that lends to it. You have now been given its file, including unpublished forecasts.
Your move?
4 FILES · PICK A CALL ON ANY OF THEM
// E4 · FAIR DEALING
THE CALL · FAIR DEALING · 1 OF 5
A small exporter asks for a currency hedge. The product that pays the bank most is a complex option strategy; a simple forward would meet the client's need.
What do you offer?
WHAT THEY HEAR · FAIR DEALING · 2 OF 5
A borrower tells you: 'Your colleague said my rate would be fixed. Now my bill has gone up.'
What are you hearing?
THE CALL · FAIR DEALING · 3 OF 5
Two clients want the last of a limited fixed-rate funding scheme the bank is offering. One is your largest relationship; the other applied first and qualifies equally.
Your move?
THE CALL · FAIR DEALING · 4 OF 5
Six months after you sold a client an interest rate hedge, you learn that the loan it hedged has been repaid early. The client hasn't mentioned the hedge.
What do you do?
THE CALL · FAIR DEALING · 5 OF 5
Writing a credit paper for a client you want to win, you find a covenant breach at its previous bank that the client did not mention.
Your move?
5 FILES · PICK A CALL ON ANY OF THEM
// E5 · FINANCIAL CRIME
SIGNAL OR NOISE · FINANCIAL CRIME · 1 OF 4
A café client starts depositing cash several times a week, each deposit just under the amount that would trigger a report. Its turnover hasn't changed.
Signal or noise?
THE CALL · FINANCIAL CRIME · 2 OF 4
You have reported a client's transactions as suspicious. The client calls and asks why its new payments are being held.
Your answer?
THE FIRST QUESTION · FINANCIAL CRIME · 3 OF 4
A new business client is owned by a company in another country, which is owned by a trust whose beneficiaries are not disclosed.
What do you ask first?
SIGNAL OR NOISE · FINANCIAL CRIME · 4 OF 4
An importer you have banked for years starts paying a new overseas supplier far above market prices for ordinary goods. The goods are shipped and invoiced normally.
Signal or noise?
4 FILES · PICK A CALL ON ANY OF THEM
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