Code of Business Practice
As a condition of membership of OFTA (the Overseas Financial Trade Association), members undertake to promote membership of OFTA and to abide by and enforce this Code and to use their best endeavours to ensure that their administration acts in the spirit of this code, avoiding any action likely to prejudice the financial wellbeing of their clients.
It shall be an overriding obligation of all members at all times to conduct business with the utmost good faith and integrity.
Members with a controlling interest in their brokerage are expected to
- inform their associated financial consultants about OFTA giving them the opportunity for Personal membership operate their brokerage according to best practice principles, maintaining the highest standards of integrity, financial probity and business administration
- promote best practice by undertaking and through the brokerage by providing appropriate training, and by passing information to OFTA in a timely way of breaches of best practice principles
- uphold the principle of best advice in the marketing and sale of financial products
- deal with administration disputes fairly and reasonably and in a timely way
- deal with sales disputes fairly and reasonably and in a timely way and, inform clients of the services provided by OFTA’s disputes resolution service and co-operate with the Ombudsman so that the facts can be established, and accept the decisions of the Ombudsman under the Terms of Reference for disputes resolution
General Sales Principles
The member shall
- where appropriate make a prior appointment to call
- make his status known, giving his business card which must identify the business organisation he represents, his position within that organisation, and communication details including at least an address and telephone number
- make it known that he is a member of OFTA and provide to the client an OFTA Members 'Client Information' leaflet
- ensure as far as possible that the financial product proposed is suitable to the needs and resources of the prospective investor
- give advice only on those financial matters in which he is knowledgeable and seek or recommend other specialist advice when necessary
- adhere strictly to the payment rules stipulated in the product sold
- treat all information supplied by the client or prospective client as completely confidential to himself and to the business organisation or organisations to which the business is being offered.
Explanation of the Contract
The member shall
- identify the organisation with which the financial product’s contract will be arranged
- explain all the essential provisions of the product which he is recommending, so as to ensure as far as possible that the prospective client understands what he is buying
- not impose any charge in addition to those charges required under the product’s contract without disclosing the amount and purpose of such charge
Financial Accounting
The member shall
- not collect cash from a prospective client or existing client
- remit any funds collected in strict conformity with the contractual requirements under which it has been collected
- adhere to the obligations placed by international convention on the financial services business community concerning money laundering.
Documentation
- Any documents that require a client’s signature must be fully completed before the client signs them.
- OFTA retains copyright on all documentation it publishes, and none may be reproduced without OFTA’s specific consent (a number of copyright documents are provided by OFTA for members to reproduce, e.g. The Client Information Leaflet)
Disputes
The member shall diligently deal with any client dispute received, acknowledge the dispute in a timely way, advise clients of his disputes procedure which should provide details of:
- how he will seek a swift resolution at the outset, and if not possible
- how long the investigation of the dispute is likely to take
- that regular contact will be made advising on the progress of the investigation
- that at the conclusion of the investigation a formal letter detailing the member’s position, together with any offer in settlement, will be sent
- that the client may resort to OFTA’s dispute resolution service.
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“I think the creation of the Overseas Financial Trade Association is, if I may say so, extremely timely, as I am sure that with the current pressures on Overseas financial service providers, the Trade Association could be very helpful in protecting their interests.”
The Rt. Hon, The Lord Brittan of Spennithorne, Leon Brittan