An exploration of unethical selling in the Financial Services Industry in the Republic of Ireland

There is much misconception as to what exactly business ethics is by both customers and organisations. It can broadly be described as “an organisation conducting their practices and procedures in a manner that ensures rightness in behaviour’ (Bartels, 1967:22). Velasquez (2012) defines “ethics as the discipline that examines one’s moral standards or the moral standards of a society to evaluate their implications for one’s life. (Velasquez, 2012:13). Over the past ten years the term ‘business ethics’ has become a popular topic considering the level of unethical behavior within financial institutions such as Enron and WorldCom which has created a high level of media coverage. The motivators that propelled the researcher to write this dissertation was personal interest within the FSI, the purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of Unethical selling within the Financial Services Industry (FSI) in Ireland. The researcher had previously worked in an intermediary financial services company in Ireland. The financial products this company provided were mortgages, life insurance, pensions, income protection and investments. The researcher was astounded by the lack of business ethics by financial advisors, who have worked in the industry for several years and did not possess the required qualifications to give advice to customers, such as, QFA (Qualified Financial Advisor). This qualification is required by law for any person wanting to provide financial advice to an individual. Also, the researcher had noticed the complete absence of any regulation official during that time. The un-exposure to the media has led the researcher to write the research paper