“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Thank you, Stan Lee.
In the case of business credit executives it seems particularly appropriate. Anyone who works in the financial industry holds the livelihood of others in his or her hands. Aside from holding people’s lives in your hands, handling their finances and credit is a very intimate and critical action; for business credit no less so than for individual credit. In fact, without commercial credit it’s safe to say that global business could not exist.
Today’s world has seen its share of financial chaos and keeping people’s trust is uppermost in the minds of many in this industry. So here is a brief reminder of what the NACM Credit Ethics Code states.
Credit executives pledge to:
- Adhere to the highest standards of integrity, trust, fairness, personal and professional behavior in all business dealings.
- Negotiate verbal or written credit agreements, contracts, assignments, and/or transfers with honesty, fairness, and due diligence to and for the benefit of all parties.
- Render reasonable assistance, cooperating with impartiality and without bias or prejudice, to debtors, third parties, and other credit professionals.
- Exchange appropriate, historical and current factual information to support the process of independent credit decisioning.
- Exercise due diligence as required to prevent unlawful or improper disclosure to third parties.
- Disclose any potential conflict in all business dealings.
Further, the credit ethics code requires that credit professionals acknowledge the importance of and promote the benefits of continued improvement of their knowledge, skills, and expertise in business credit. The pursuit of knowledge will support the strategic advancement of the commercial credit function, as it leads businesses to profitability and growth.
With credit in the news and on everyone’s mind it is crucial to uphold the reputation of credit professionals. Each misstep seems to open up a crevice beneath the financial industry. Credit executives must find ways to keep all your dealings transparent and above board in the interests of national economic recovery and global standing.
* Image courtesy of NACM.com
