He gave a keynote speech to more than 300 attendees from around 50 countries at what is the biggest gathering of senior trading venue executives held globally. Delegates included ministers from the Qatari Government.
“We live in testing times for our industry, when sweeping judgments have been made in the media about the trustworthiness of financial services practitioners,” said the CISI Chairman.
“In our part of the sector, through this Institute, we have always set high standards and expected our members to aspire to them and maintain them.”
He continued: “The growth in professionalism is critical, as are culture, behaviour and skills. Recent focus has been on behaviour, or lack of it, and integrity, or lack of it. We can break that down into four simple questions: is what you are doing honest, open, transparent and fair? Just because it is legal doesn’t mean it is right.”
The CISI’s input into the event also saw CISI Chief Executive Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI, deliver the Institute’s
interactive integrity presentation, inviting attendees to vote on how they would respond to an ethical dilemma. Integrity was one of the twin themes of this year’s congress.
CISI board member Robert Barnes, Chartered FCSI, CEO of Turquoise, was invited as Chairman of the World Exchange Congress and gave the opening address at the two-day event, staged at the St Regis Hotel in Doha. Attendees at the event were able to claim CPD credit.