The Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, has charged employees to uphold high ethical standards, integrity and sound corporate governance while providing financial services to the banking public.

Onyeali-Ikpe gave the charge in a statement on Monday in Lagos as part of activities to flag off the 2021 Corporate Compliance & Ethics Week (CCEW).

She explained that the celebration was an excellent opportunity to reaffirm the bank’s commitment to operate in an ethical and responsible manner.

“As we continue to innovate, grow and build a customer-oriented business that leverages digital technologies, we owe our customers, partners, shareholders, the communities we serve, and more importantly, ourselves, the duty of upholding the highest standard of ethical conduct in everything we do,” she said.

She also noted that since 2005, companies across the world had celebrated the annual CCEW in a bid to shine a spotlight on the importance of compliance and ethics.

The bank CEO said that the core principles of the week are awareness, recognition, and reinforcement; and this year’s celebration was running from November 8 to 12.

Onyeali-Ikpe also recognized and stressed the significance of trust and confidence in the banking industry.

She noted that companies that implement a management philosophy that places a premium on business ethics are far more likely to succeed than those that operate unethically.

“As part of the CCEW, the bank will conduct a host of engaging staff activities including trivia contests, giveaways, quizzes and lectures all designed to remind its over 5,000 staff across the country of the importance of operating ethically as they go about their daily activities,” she said.

Fidelity Bank, according to the statement, is renowned for its world-class corporate governance practices, and boasts of one of the strongest Boards of Directors in the banking industry.

It said that the tier-two lender recently concluded a highly successful Eurobond offering, raising $400 million from the international capital markets through a 5-Year tenor Eurobond.