Fair Dealing

Treating customers fairly

At UOB, we put our customers first and it is on this foundation that we have developed our business and will continue to grow. What is not right for our customers is not right for us. Fair Dealing is at the heart of every decision and recommendation that we make at UOB. This is achieved through conscious and concerted efforts across our entire franchise.

The principles of Fair Dealing reflect UOB’s time-tested values of Honour, Enterprise, Unity and Commitment, and are not bound by business or geography. In particular, our value of Honour underpins our commitment to delivering the five Fair Dealing Outcomes as set out in the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Guidelines on Fair Dealing.

We embed Fair Dealing principles in the way we design our investment products and services, our marketing and sales strategies and approaches, and our after-sales care. By consistently putting these principles into practice, we provide suitable financial services and solutions to customers and ensure long-term business sustainability.

Fair Dealing is the responsibility of everyone at UOB, regardless of our individual roles. This duty is embodied in the UOB Code of Conduct. We have in place frameworks, policies and guidelines to ensure that we always aim for and achieve the Fair Dealing Outcomes.

The Group Policy for Financial Advisory Services and Sale of Investment Products is an overarching policy that dictates the minimum standards on our provision of financial advisory services and the sale of investment products, including but not limited to:

• competency of sales representatives;
• due diligence for product suitability;
• fair and transparent disclosures to customers on areas such as key product and investment risks, as well as relevant fees, charges and penalties; and
• guidelines for product information and advertisements to ensure clarity, relevance and fairness.

Reviewed and approved by the Operational Risk Management Committee on an annual basis, the policy ensures that we have a consistent practice for dealing with our customers fairly.

The Fair Dealing Guidelines Committee (FDGC), comprising senior management appointed by our Chief Executive Officer, is responsible for ensuring Fair Dealing Outcomes for our customers. The Board and Management provide oversight through the Board Risk Management Committee and the Risk and Capital Committee respectively.

Under the FDGC’s leadership and guidance, UOB has been, over the years, proactively driving the implementation of various new and/or improved controls and process refinement initiatives aimed at improving the standards of achieving Fair Dealing Outcomes. These include:

• mandatory training on MAS Fair Dealing for all employees;
• regular ‘Tone from the Top’ communications to reinforce the importance of embracing Fair Dealing principles in all that we do;
• the UOB Customer Commitments Awards programme to recognise colleagues who uphold and fulfil our customer commitments;
• the Art of Service Recovery Programme, which aims to equip employees with the skillsets to address customers’ concerns effectively, to deliver service recovery and in turn, increase customer satisfaction; and
• the MAS Fairness, Ethics, Accountability and Transparency (FEAT) and Fair Dealing Outcome Five Workshop, which brings together cross-functional teams from across the Group to discuss key insights into customer concerns and to proactively identify service gaps and improvement areas.