It is still very much a business activity but one which is held to a very high social standard. This important qualification is necessary to protect the financial consumer from conflicts of interest, to instill corporate governance standards, to enforce global best practices for managing risks and ultimately, to sustain public trust.
We have seen during the global crisis what a banking market becomes in jurisdictions where public trust becomes eroded. It would be an over-simplification to argue that their problems are unique and could not arise in Asia or in the Philippines.