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RMA Guiding Principles for Business Conduct

Preamble

RMA makes compliance with high standards of business conduct mandatory for every CRC credential holder. Accordingly, RMA has adopted a set of Guiding Principles (“Guidance”) for CRC credential holders. The principles set forth in the Guidance are based on the promotion of honest and candid conduct, fair dealing, and ethical handling of conflicts of interest, full disclosure, compliance, and the protection of business interests. These principles are fundamental to the values of RMA, the CRC credential holder, and essential to maintaining the stakeholders trust in financial institutions and the credit and lending profession.

Guiding Principles

  1. The credential holder should act with integrity.
  2. The credential holder should exercise diligence, thoroughness, and objectivity in the conduct of their professional responsibilities.
  3. The credential holder’s institution is dedicated to preserving value for its stakeholders. The credential holder is obligated to enhance and protect their institution’s assets and ensure their efficient use. That means you must vigilantly protect your institution’s tangible, intangible intellectual and other proprietary property or information, including trade secrets. In addition, the credential holder must use their institution’s assets only for legitimate business purposes.
  4. The credential holder should avoid any actual or perceived conflicts of interest and appearance of impropriety. The credential holder should ensure that their private activities and interests do not interfere with their responsibilities or the interests of their institution. A conflict of interest occurs when one’s personal interest interferes in any way – or even appears to interfere – with the interests of the institution taken as a whole or when the credential holder or a family member receives improper personal benefits due to your position. Never subordinate your service to your organization for personal gain or advantage. In all instances you should not enter into situations that could result in even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
  5. The credential holder should make full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosures. The credential holder must not falsely report or mis-represent information, or fail to report the existence of any known false or mis-represented information.
  6. The credential holder should maintain confidential or proprietary information about your institution, clients, or other companies; past, present, or prospective. Others must be able to interact with you in the knowledge that the content of their communications and records should be kept confidential and private when appropriate..
  7. The credential holder must ensure that the confidential and proprietary information is protected and that information which you disclose is accurate. The credential holder must maintain the confidentiality of information entrusted to you by your institution and its customers, business partners, vendors, except where disclosure is authorized or legally mandated.
  8. The credential holder may not use confidential information in violation of the terms under which it was disclosed express, and you may not allow any third party to obtain such information in violation of such terms. If the credential holder knows or have any reason to know that confidential information was wrongfully obtained from the owner of the information or was obtained from a third party who was under a confidentiality obligation to the owner you cannot use such information.
  9. The credential holder should follow the applicable laws, regulations, rules and regulatory orders of every jurisdiction in which your institution operates. The credential holder is charged with the responsibility to acquire appropriate knowledge of the requirements relating to their duties sufficient to enable you to recognize potential dangers and know when to seek legal or other appropriate advice.
  10. The credential holder should succeed through fair and honest business practices. The credential holder must observe high standards of ethical conduct in all dealings and relationships with your institution’s customers, employees, and competitors. The credential holder should compete vigorously and effectively but fairly, and must comply with all applicable antitrust laws and other competition and business practices laws and regulations.
  11. The credential holder should promote a diverse, respectful, and collaborative workplace. The credential holder must not engage in discriminatory conduct nor engage in unlawful discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment or the creation of a hostile working environment based on any protected class.
  12. The credential holder should maintain and improve their professional competence and encourage others to maintain and improve their competence.