Speaking at the 29th National Banking and Ethics Conference in Accra, he said the institute is working closely with the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Association of Banks to ensure that all banking professionals meet new ethical and professional standards.

“Over the next five years, you must be a Chartered Banker to be a branch manager,” the CEO stated. “This will extend to all job families across the industry, as we seek to ensure that ethics and sustainability sit at the heart of banking practice.” he said.

This year’s conference, themed “Building Future-Ready Banks: Ethical Leadership, Sustainable Finance and Currency Stability,” focused on promoting responsible leadership, innovation, and confidence in Ghana’s financial system.

Robert Dzato explained that the Institute is placing ethics, sustainability, and professionalism high on the agenda to rebuild public confidence in the sector. “We all know where we have come from as an industry,” he said. “Our mission now is to develop trusted bankers — professionals who combine character, competence, and integrity.”

To achieve this, the Institute has rolled out two new mandatory programmes — Ethics 2.0, a compulsory ethics course for all bank employees, and a Non-Interest Banking Certification, aimed at broadening industry competence and inclusivity. The ACIB (Associate Chartered Banker) qualification has also been made a compulsory requirement for all banking professionals.

He added that the CIB is collaborating with key partners including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to deliver ESG-specific training programmes, aligning Ghana’s banking industry with global sustainability standards.

“We’re talking about character development, competence development, conduct, and consequence. These four pillars are essential to keeping the financial system stable and sustainable.” he added.

He also emphasized the distinction between “practising bankers” and “professional bankers”, noting that no Chartered Bankers were implicated in recent fraud cases reported by the Bank of Ghana.

“That tells you something — professional standards make a difference. Just as you would not want to see an unqualified doctor, Ghanaians deserve to be served by qualified, ethical bankers.” he added.

He said the CIB’s long-term goal is to re-professionalize the industry, ensuring that trust, ethics, and sustainability remain central to banking operations.

“We want to put trusted bankers at the heart of what we do,” he concluded. “Our goal is a banking system that is future-ready, ethically grounded, and globally competitive.”