Bank Responsibilities

Many in my network of friends and acquaintances feel powerless and frustrated by what they see as a lack of accountability and responsibility on the part of large financial institutions.  Whether it is on a large scale as seen with the Lehman Brothers debacle of 2008, or simply the aggravation of not being able to access their accounts because of a bank mal function, banks are notorious for their self interest and lack of regard for their clients.

Scores of my contacts feel helpless when confronted by these large financial behemoths.  They are uncertain of their rights, their bank’s responsibilities and often feel bullied by their financial institution.

Certainly responsibility is a two-way street and as a bank customer you have duties as well.  A case in point would the security of your personal information. Systems and security procedures are designed to keep your personal and financial data confidential at all times. But you have a significant role to play in the security of your information by keeping your log-on information confidential and closing your browser when you have finished your online banking session.

But where most people feel uncomfortable is on the other side of the two-way “responsibility street”.  They find themselves asking, “what are the responsibilities of my bank anyway?”

Many refer to these responsibilities as the bank’s fiduciary responsibility.

This fiduciary responsibility can be described simply as the banks duty and obligation to act in your best interest, to manage your funds in a manner consistent with the

“Duty of Good Faith”, which includes total truthfulness; absolute integrity and total fidelity to your interest. The duty of good faith also prohibits any advantage being taken by the slightest misrepresentation, concealment, threat or adverse pressure of any kind.

There are many definitions of fiduciary responsibility, the Wikipedia reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiduciary_responsibility is but one.

The important thing to remember is that banks have a responsibility to you and not, as they might like you to believe, the other way around.

 The other imperative is to not allow large financial institutions to push you around.

You are important!

You do have rights!

In future blog posts I will talk about how one stands up to large financial institutions and, not only be heard but achieve positive results

Stay tuned