Bank's Code of Conduct: Honesty and Integrity

Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course
Date
Personal Statement
Last summer, I worked as a Customer Care Representative Intern at a bank in California. During that period, I was getting my hands on Finance, a field that I have always been interested in since I was a child. Luckily, the induction process was not as hard as I thought it would be since one of my best friends, James, worked as a Head Teller at the bank and recommended me to the manager. James and I have been friends for over fifteen years. His parents migrated to our neighborhood, where we attended elementary and high schools. We were interested in the banking and finance sector during our childhood since all our parents were working in the industry. He was more of a family member than a friend. After a month of working at the financial institution, the bank was at peak season when my manager decided to delegate me with the responsibility of helping James close the cash at the end of the day. Within a couple of weeks of working together with James, I noticed that sometimes when he tried closing the cash, the bank balance sheet would not balance, making James have extra money, and after repeating the procedure, the bank balances reverted to zero. While I was not aware that this activity had been going on for long, I started becoming suspicious as it started challenging my ethics. Was it possible that my friend was stealing from the bank? I did not believe that it would reach a point where I would question my best friend’s ethics and integrity. All my suspicions were affirmed when I saw James printing an extra $20 on the closing card and later slipped it in his pocket. This was the first time that my ethics were challenged.
Given the situation, my first instinct was to alert my colleagues working in the department. However, I was in a dilemma since, after all, James was my only closest friend, and I would never imagine ending his career. I pretended that I had not seen his actions on our way home. However, I also figured that, even though maybe he might not have been seen, he would get caught later in his career, one way or another. A...