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The non-bank has committed itself to the integrity initiative, a move it says assures its intent to be “held to account”.
Established in 2013 partly in response to the 2008 global financial crisis, alongside concerns about industry misconduct, the Banking and Finance Oath (BFO) is a non-profit body intended to assist individuals in the financial space to “demonstrate their commitment to ethical practices”.
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In 2021, the BFO merged with the Sydney-based non-profit The Ethics Centre in a bid to “expand and enrich conversations within the banking and finance industry on ethical issues”.
As of the time of writing, there are 2,051 signatories to the non-profit’s oath of maintaining ethical and sustainable business practices.
Executive of the BFO, Cris Parker, said that the non-profit believes individuals can be a catalyst for change, “whether they are recent graduates or experienced leaders”.
“They can help organisations uphold their standards and do better,” Ms Parker said.
Ms Parker later said that with customer expectations continuing to evolve, the banking and finance industries need to “raise the bar above ASIC and APRA’s minimum standards to create a sustainable business and industry”.
Assetline Capital’s head of credit, Grant McFarlane, echoed a similar position, noting that one of the reasons the non-bank aligned with BFO was lack of regulations within non-bank lending.
“We need to do the right thing by the borrower – helping them grow their business, and fully disclosing all fees and charges,” Mr McFarlane said.
“For me, integrity is about making the right decisions for the right reasons – and standing by your word when you say you’re going to do something.
“This is the ideal time to bring integrity into the open, and make sure everyone involved in every deal has taken The BFO – and understands what that means.”
Assetline Capital’s managing director – property lending, Paul Munt, said that another driving factor was a sense of responsibility to “role model values-based decision-making more broadly in the industry” held by the lender as its customer base expands.
“By committing to the BFO, we are telling our teams and partners we will be held to account,” Mr Munt said.
“One of our first steps is ensuring our values align with the principles of The BFO – and making those values highly visible across our offices in Sydney and Melbourne.”
According to Assetline Capital, its leadership team intends to “workshop ethical dilemmas around responsible lending with the support of The BFO” and its team.
The lender has said this will “further strengthen its credit decision framework” as well as shape its recruitment, reward and recognition strategies.
“The BFO acts as a ‘true north’ for every decision we make as individuals, as well as a credit committee,” Mr Munt said.
[Related: Assetline Capital joins FAST lending panel]
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