First ICAC e-learning package to boost bank staff integrity
2002-4-20
The Independent Commission Against Commission and the banking sector today (Saturday) jointly launch an e-learning package to heighten bank staff's awareness of anti-corruption laws and to help them tackle issues related to the acceptance of advantages.
The training package was introduced at a seminar held today (Saturday) as part of a series of activities organised by the Working Group of Leadership Integrity Programme for Banking Industry formed in April 2000 to reinforce a culture of probity within the sector.
Included in the working Group are representatives from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, The Hong Kong Association of Banks, The DTC Association, the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers and the ICAC.
Programme Coordinator (Business Sector) of the ICAC's Community Relations Department, Mrs Helen Lee Ching Po-han, said: "The CD-ROM entitled 'Sunshine Training Camp' is the Commission's first-ever electronic training package for the business sector as yet another attempt to promote professional ethics in addition to traditional classroom talks on corruption prevention.”
"It will be distributed to all banks for their uploading onto their Intranet or installing in the computer terminals in their training centres for use by their staff," she said.
Bank staff could visit the seven "campsites" of the "Sunshine Training Camp" for information on common corruption pitfalls in the banking industry, anti-corruption laws and codes of conduct, or a quiz on corruption prevention knowledge.
Mrs Lee said initial responses from the banks were encouraging.
Several major banks, including the HSBC Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Standard Chartered Bank and the Hang Seng Bank, had agreed to adopt the package with more than 25,000 banking staff expected to be reached. Another 20 more banks would follow suit.
The training package was introduced to more than 120 managerial staff from the compliance, internal audit, finance, human resources, training and business operations departments of 71 banks at the seminar held at the ICAC Lecture Theatre today.
The chairman of the Working Group of Leadership Integrity Programme for Banking Industry , Mr Edwin Lau Chi-kit, said at the seminar that any malpractices by bank staff would tarnish the banks' hard-earned reputation.
"The banking industry must at all times maintain a high level of vigilance and strengthen the culture of integrity," he said.
To help bank executives enhance ethical management, the working group produced a practical guide in March last year.
Capitalising on the success of the two-year programme, the ICAC will continue its liaison with the banking sector through the Corruption Prevention Network formed last year. The network now comprises 211 bank managers from 97 banks.
Regular seminars will be organised to update members of the Network on the corruption scene. The Commission has recently begun to send anti-corruption information to members via email.
Speaking at today’s seminar, ICAC Principal Investigator Stephen Chan Chor-keung said corruption reports concerning the banking sector slightly increased in recent years.
Most of the complaints concerned Letters of Credit and credit card fraud, with some related to the applications and granting of tax loans.
Last year, the Commission received 119 reports concerning the banking sector, up from 98 in 2000. In the first quarter of this year, 34 reports were received, compared to 28 in the same period last year.
While reiterating ICAC's commitment to combat corruption, Mr Chan called upon the banks to strengthen their internal monitoring system as well as to make prompt reports to the ICAC when corruption was suspected.
The training package was introduced at a seminar held today (Saturday) as part of a series of activities organised by the Working Group of Leadership Integrity Programme for Banking Industry formed in April 2000 to reinforce a culture of probity within the sector.
Included in the working Group are representatives from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, The Hong Kong Association of Banks, The DTC Association, the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers and the ICAC.
Programme Coordinator (Business Sector) of the ICAC's Community Relations Department, Mrs Helen Lee Ching Po-han, said: "The CD-ROM entitled 'Sunshine Training Camp' is the Commission's first-ever electronic training package for the business sector as yet another attempt to promote professional ethics in addition to traditional classroom talks on corruption prevention.”
"It will be distributed to all banks for their uploading onto their Intranet or installing in the computer terminals in their training centres for use by their staff," she said.
Bank staff could visit the seven "campsites" of the "Sunshine Training Camp" for information on common corruption pitfalls in the banking industry, anti-corruption laws and codes of conduct, or a quiz on corruption prevention knowledge.
Mrs Lee said initial responses from the banks were encouraging.
Several major banks, including the HSBC Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Standard Chartered Bank and the Hang Seng Bank, had agreed to adopt the package with more than 25,000 banking staff expected to be reached. Another 20 more banks would follow suit.
The training package was introduced to more than 120 managerial staff from the compliance, internal audit, finance, human resources, training and business operations departments of 71 banks at the seminar held at the ICAC Lecture Theatre today.
The chairman of the Working Group of Leadership Integrity Programme for Banking Industry , Mr Edwin Lau Chi-kit, said at the seminar that any malpractices by bank staff would tarnish the banks' hard-earned reputation.
"The banking industry must at all times maintain a high level of vigilance and strengthen the culture of integrity," he said.
To help bank executives enhance ethical management, the working group produced a practical guide in March last year.
Capitalising on the success of the two-year programme, the ICAC will continue its liaison with the banking sector through the Corruption Prevention Network formed last year. The network now comprises 211 bank managers from 97 banks.
Regular seminars will be organised to update members of the Network on the corruption scene. The Commission has recently begun to send anti-corruption information to members via email.
Speaking at today’s seminar, ICAC Principal Investigator Stephen Chan Chor-keung said corruption reports concerning the banking sector slightly increased in recent years.
Most of the complaints concerned Letters of Credit and credit card fraud, with some related to the applications and granting of tax loans.
Last year, the Commission received 119 reports concerning the banking sector, up from 98 in 2000. In the first quarter of this year, 34 reports were received, compared to 28 in the same period last year.
While reiterating ICAC's commitment to combat corruption, Mr Chan called upon the banks to strengthen their internal monitoring system as well as to make prompt reports to the ICAC when corruption was suspected.