Ethics, Rules of Conduct and Professionalism (Level 2) Flashcards
Can you give me an example of when you have demonstrated each of the Rules of Conduct (Honesty and Integrity)?
Honesty and Integrity
- Tendering for role of IC on Essex
- Colleague wanted to commence interviews before all tenders were received
- I advised that it would be unethical and compromise the integrity of the tender process
- Ensured that all interviews were scheduled after the receipt of all bids
Can you give me an example of when you have demonstrated each of the rules of conduct (Maintain Professional Competence, Necessary Expertise)?
Maintain Professional Competence
- Leasehold disposal of retail unit in Birmingham
- Questioned on complex legal matters by prospective tenants
- Informed them that these were outside my area of competence
- Advised them to get in touch with members of our legal team
Can you give me an example of when you have demonstrated each of the rules of conduct (good quality and diligent service)?
Good quality and diligent service
- disposal of portfolio of pbsa assets
- met our jv partner’s objectives
- sold assets in line with the required timeline despite difficult economic conditions
- achieved above asking price and anticipated financial returns
- indication of good service was the repeat business received following the transaction
Can you give me an example of when you have demonstrated each of the rules of conduct (promote diversity and inclusion)?
Promote diversity and inclusion
- undertook fir ambassador training
- responsible for promoting d & i within Linkcity
- created a calendar outlining the different religious festivals and holidays
- gave colleagues the opportunity to add to it
- advised senior management that this calendar should be consulted when considering resourcing and events planning to take account of events such as Ramadan
Can you give me an example of when you have demonstrated each of the rules of conduct (act in public interest, promote trust in the profession)?
Promoting trust in the profession
- offered tickets to a sporting event by a consultant
- the timing of it was before we would be appointing consultants for a new project, likely that this firm would be considered for the role
- I declined the invitation on the account that I felt the offer would impact my impartiality and professional judgement in the future, the timing of the offer was suspicious
- I notified our compliance team of the offer
How do you ensure that you comply with bribery legislation?
- I consider the Bribery Act 2010 and the RICS Professional Statement on Countering Bribery and Corruption, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing before doing business with any individuals or firms
- Before accepting any gifts I consider the proportionality, timing and whether it would impact my professional judgement
- I always comply with Linkcity’s gift/bribery guidance
- If in doubt I would contact Linkcity’s compliance team or the RICS hotline for further advice
How do you ensure you comply with money laundering regulations?
- Request a D & B report before doing business with any individuals/companies to check the validity of the information provided and assess the financial performance or the company
Maintain my awareness of money laundering red flags;
- strange currencies
- deliberate loss making
- unwillingness to provide identification documentation
- time pressures for payments
How do you ensure you comply with your firm’s bribery and gifts policy?
- Do not accept gifts with a monetary value of over £100
- Any gifts that are accepted ensure they are logged on the gift register
- Consider the proportionality and timing of it and whether it would impact the impartiality of my professional judgement
Tell me about an instance of when you have been offered a gift or hospitality by a client.
- Offered two bottles of wine by a consultant that I had done continued work with throughout the year
- Monetary value of wine = £50
- Not proportionate to the work we had done together
- Rejected the gift
- Notified our compliance team of the gift offer
Tell me about what you would do if you felt that an instruction was outside your scope of experience or knowledge
- Would not accept the instruction
- Advise that it is outside my professional competence
- Provide contact details of relevant colleague if possible
How would you keep client’s money securely and safely held?
- Hold client money in an account that the firm has exclusive control over
- Ensure that a client money account does not contain any sums other than the whole or any part of client money paid into it
- Not hold office money in a client money account
- Ensure that all client money accounts include the word ‘client’ (written in full) and the name of the firm in the title of the account
- Ensure that the money is always immediately available
Tell me about how you would handle a client complaint.
- Acknowledge the complaint within 2-3 days (RICS recommend 7 days)
- Action the complaint within 14 days (RICS recommend 28 days)
- Pass the complaint onto the complaints handling officer
- If necessary pass onto legal team
Tell me about a conflict of interest check you have carried out.
- Considered the RICS Global Professional Statement on Conflicts of Interest (2017)
- Before entering into contract with a consultant, issued a conflict of interest check request to our internal compliance team
- I also sent a team wide email asking if there was a known conflict of interest check with the party in question
- No conflict of interest flagged and continued with the appointment
If you identified a potential or actual conflict of interest, how could you handle this?
Dependent on the nature of the confllict
- Owned Conflict – reject the instruction
- Party Conflict – ensure that I am not part of the work or project if possible so the company could still carry out the work, ensure information barriers are in place
- Confidential Information Conflict – ensure information barriers are in place
In all instances I would have to inform the client and ensure that they have provided informed consent to continue with an instruction knowing the conflict of interest exists.
Exeter – how did you appoint the planning consultant?
- Tendered 3 different consultants through a single stage tender process including interviews
- Once deciding on the successful party, notified all parties of the outcome
- Carried out due diligence on the successful party with an internal compliance and conflict of interest check and requested a D&B report
- Issued terms of engagement and a standard form of appointment for signature in line with RICS guidance on Standard form of Consultant’s Appointment
- Cross referenced all information provided by the consultant on companies house before signature
