The Canon of Good Practices of the Financial Market

The financial market constitutes a common good of all of its participants, i.e. financial entities which include natural persons, legal persons or other organizational units offering financial products or services, as well as their customers and customers of other institutions and organizations operating on it. The basis of the market's balanced development and safety is the ethical dimension of financial entities' operations.
The Canon of Good Practices of the Financial Market articulates the basic values and ethical ideals behind financial entities, and all principles of the Canon constitute an integral, mutually complementary whole. At the same time, the Canon leaves a freedom to form and evaluate the application of ethical standards in accordance with the specificity of individual market sectors and various organizational solutions, as well as with their achievements in the development and improvement of good practices, to financial entities and their self-government organizations. A financial entity shall act with integrity and prudence, with respect for the justified interest of the customers and the good of the financial market, and it shall not abuse its dominant position resulting from its advantage of resources, including the qualifications or competence of persons acting on its behalf. A financial entity shall carry out its business honestly and with due diligence, making sure that persons acting on its behalf have adequate professional competence and adopt an ethical stance. A financial entity shall act in a way which inspires trust and ensures respect for the dignity of customers and contractors, looking after the transparency of its actions. A financial entity shall have resources and procedures at its disposal, which are required for efficient performance and monitoring of the business conducted, and shall use them in good faith. A financial entity shall ensure the development of proper relations with its employees and partners in a spirit of mutual respect and responsibility, ensuring adequate conditions for the performance of activities by employees and persons acting on its behalf. A financial entity shall strive to avoid conflicts of interests which might cause the customers' justified interest to be violated, and - should such a conflict have occurred despite the maintenance of due diligence - strive to solve it in a way which guarantees honest and diligent treatment of customers. A financial entity shall strive for the best possible knowledge of the needs of its customers, to an extent to which it may be useful for the adjustment of its offer, the scope or standard of services rendered to the customers' situation. A financial entity shall protect information about customers and make sure that the information be used in accordance with the law. A financial entity shall provide the customer with clear and honest information about products and services offered and the related costs, risk and potential profits, thus making it easier for the customer to make an appropriate choice. Towards its customers, a financial entity shall apply uniform, factually justified criteria which can diversify its offer, scope or standard of services rendered depending on the customer's situation or the profile of a group of customers, which does not rule out the option of individual negotiation of conditions of agreements. In the performance of its advertising activity, a financial entity shall be guided by the principles of fair trade and make sure that the information provided be honest and not misleading, particularly as far as the risk related to the potential profits is concerned. A financial entity shall consider customer complaints honestly and on time, using mediatory and amicable forms of dispute settlement as the need arises. In mutual relations, financial entities shall be guided by merchant decency, with respect for the principles of fair trade. Financial entities shall strive to settle mutual disputes using mediatory and amicable forms of dispute settlement as far as possible. Financial entities, without violating their own interests and maintaining professional secret and trade secret, shall cooperate in promoting good market practices and corporate governance as well as, as far as possible, in eliminating from business practice phenomena which hinder the development of the financial market, in particular activities which are dishonest, unfair or at variance with the principles defined in the Canon. A financial entity which has adopted the Canon for practice shall make sure that all of its employees and other persons acting on its behalf are familiar with the Canon and abide by its principles, as well as provide access to the full content of the Canon to its customers and contractors.

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