Principle 5 - Speaking Up
5. Members should speak up if they believe, or have reasonable cause to believe, that a course of action is unethical or is unlawful.
5.1 Members should challenge others on their non-compliance with relevant legal, regulatory and professional requirements.
5.2 Members must report to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, as soon as reasonably possible, any matter which appears to constitute Misconduct for the purposes of the Disciplinary and Capacity for Membership Schemes of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and/or a material breach of any relevant legal, regulatory or professional requirements by one of its Members.
5.3 In addition to complying with any legal requirements to report matters to relevant regulators or other authorities, Members should also report to those bodies any behaviour that they have reasonable cause to believe is unethical or unlawful, and carries significant risk of materially affecting outcomes.
5.4 Members must take reasonable steps to ensure users are aware of any substantial issues with a piece of work for which they are responsible or in which they have had significant involvement, if those issues might reasonably influence the decision-making or judgement of users.
The principle of speaking up requires Members to raise concerns, discuss problems and flag particular issues or behaviours. It can range from simply addressing concerns with team members to making formal reports to the appropriate authorities.
Given the technical nature of actuarial work, it is important that actuaries always identify issues to users of their work as these issues might not be as apparent to non-actuaries.
Find out more in our Guidance on the Speaking Up Principle of the Actuaries’ Code. You can read the Guidance online, download a copy, or view the questions below which will take you to the corresponding part of the Guidance:
What is Speaking Up?
What do you mean by speaking up?
Is speaking up always required?
What is the difference between speaking up and whistle blowing?
What is required of me as a Member?
Within the general duty, are there any specific situations in which I am required to speak up?
Applying the principle to your work
What is unethical conduct – can it differ depending on particular culture or location?
How do I determine what is unethical?
I’ve discovered a substantial issue with a piece of work, what should I do in the first instance?
Who do I speak up to?
Should I follow my employer’s procedures before raising my concerns externally?
Should I speak to anyone before I report concerns to the IFoA?
If I don’t report an issue to the IFoA, could I face disciplinary action?
What behaviour should I report to other regulators or authorities?
How much do I need to know before I report conduct to the authorities?
What information must I flag to clients or other users of my work?
Further guidance
Appendix D - Issues which may occur to Members who consider speaking up
Appendix E - Practical Questions for Members
Appendix F - How to make a complaint to the IFoA
Contact Details
For further information contact:
Regulation Team, The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Level 2, Exchange Crescent, 7 Conference Square, Edinburgh, EH3 8RA
Filter or search events
Events calendar
-
This session will focus on the transformation roadmap of the healthcare sector in KSA and the role of actuarial capabilities in enhancing its evolution to the desired end stage as per the objectives of the Vision 2030. The discussion will focus how the system has evolved so far and shed light on the expected future changes. Through examining the transformation, we will highlight how the sector is and can use actuarial expertise to not only assist with this transformation but also use basic actuarial principles to identify the key risks and their respective mitigation strategies.
-
Sessional Meeting: Covid-19 and the Effectiveness of ERM Frameworks
Online15 August 2022The purpose of this research paper is to explore enterprise risk management lessons which can be learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic in preparation for potential future pandemics as well as other “gray rhino” or “black swan” events. This paper is not intended to be an all-encompassing solution to the issues presented by Covid-19; rather, the content has been provided to help drive discussions regarding how risk management processes may need to evolve in line with the dynamic nature of the underlying risks that they sometimes need to capture.
-
Planning your answers in the online examination format
22 August 2022This webinar will discuss good exam technique, including various approaches candidates can take in managing their time completing their exams in the online format.
-
This session is for new candidates and existing candidates where we will be discussing the practical steps you need to take leading up your exam and on the day. We will be discussing how to testing the online exam platform, downloading and uploading your paper and key information from the Exam Handbook.
The exam webinar is for candidates, new to IFoA exams and returning candidates, sitting in the September 2022 exam session.
-
Balancing the short – and the long – term: the challenges of being a “sustainable” NED
6 September 2022The role of Non-Executive Directors has become increasingly challenging and critical over the past few years.
Big picture thinking, Governance knowledge, Independent mindset, Ambassador potential and Energy and commitment: these are the essential skills sought in a successful NED, according to the Chartered Governance Institute (UK & Ireland).
In parallel, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria are increasingly key and used by investors to measure the sustainability and ethical impact of investing in an organisation.
-
Is your ESG offering a misselling risk? This innovative concept can resolve that risk
7 September 2022This webinar will cover:
• Some background on the risks of misselling in an ESG context, including the DWS case
• Achieving positive impact is a strong antidote to the risks of greenwashing or ESG misselling, however this risks having a tension with fiduciary responsibilities
• This tension can be resolved with a concept called Universal Ownership
• Under Universal ownership, investors have an appetite to make a loss in order to achieve positive impact, and yet still have no compromise on their fiduciary responsibilities
-
How do CDC pension schemes smooth members' pensions?
23 September 2022In the UK, the idea of collective defined contribution (CDC) pension schemes is gaining more attention with the launch of the Royal Mail CDC scheme, the first of its kind in the UK. Our recent research on CDC plans investigates the sources of the putative benefits of CDC schemes: the smoothing of pensions for members. Using an attribution analysis to burrow into the scheme design, the reason for the smoothing of members' pensions is explained and understood.
-
The IFoA's Infrastructure Working Party, led by Chris Lewin, will present its new introductory guide to infrastructure investment, which will be published on the IFoA web-site prior to the webinar. Those readers whose institutions have already taken the plunge into infrastructure will know that it is a highly complex and diverse field of activity. This guide does not explore all the matters which investors take into account, but it does discuss many of the more important points, including the risks and past returns, benchmarking, and ESG and SDG considerations. Attendees will be invi
-
Social Care Agenda
11 October 2022Social care reform has long been on the to-do list for successive governments over the last two decades. In February, the government’s proposed reforms to adult social care [including cap on care costs] was published. Against this backdrop of funding promise and rising National Insurance taxation, in this session we will debate the resilience of these new proposals, the impact of future demand for care services and what role for the insurance industry and the important role it has played in long-term care funding in other countries where public-private partnership works.
-
Health – Our Greatest Asset
2 November 2022Health contributes to happiness at the personal, family, community and societal level. Health, importantly underpins all our economic security. This talk will explore the drivers of our health, the measurement of health and the steps we can take to improve health – most of which lie outside the NHS.
-
GIRO Conference 2022
ACC Liverpool21 November 2022 - 23 November 2022
We are delighted to announce the return of GIRO as an in-person conference, giving you an opportunity to connect with actuaries in your practice area. Join leading experts to discuss key issues, emerging ideas, and new research across the General Insurance sector.
-
Life Conference 2022
ACC Liverpool Kings Dock Liverpool Waterfront Liverpool Merseyside L3 4FP23 November 2022 - 25 November 2022
Life Conference returns as an in-person conference in 2022, giving you an opportunity to connect with your peers and fellow actuaries in your sector, in person. You will also hear leading experts discuss key issues, emerging ideas, and new research across the Life insurance sector.
-
Mortality and morbidity risk varies by variables such as age, sex and smoking. In traditional actuarial experience analysis, these variables, and certain combinations thereof can be explored. However, with the wealth of data now available it is becoming increasingly challenging to identify the key drivers of experience and account for the interaction between different variables. A univariate approach often compares apples and pears, for example males are more likely to smoke and have larger policies than females. Likewise, variable interactions are missed unless specifically included.
