The Banker’s oath and financial advice

Utz Weitzel and Michael Kirchler

Journal of Banking & Finance, 2023, vol. 148, issue C

Abstract: Financial misbehavior is widespread and costly. The Dutch government legally requires every employee in the financial sector to take a Hippocratic oath, the so-called “banker’s oath.” We investigate whether nudges that (in)directly remind financial advisers of their oath affect their service. In a large-scale audit study, professional auditors confronted 201 Dutch financial advisers with a conflict of interest. We find that when auditors apply a nudge that directly refers to the banker’s oath, advisers are less likely to prioritize bank’s interests. In additional prediction tasks, we find that Dutch regulators expect stronger effects of the oath than observed.

Keywords: Experimental finance; Audit study; Banker’s oath; Nudges; Financial advice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C92 D84 G02 G14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:148:y:2023:i:c:s0378426622003302

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2022.106750

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