Muhammad bin Ibrahim: Reflection on professionalism, Hippocratic oath and the banking industry Remarks by Mr Muhammad bin Ibrahim, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the 20th AICB Chartered Banker's Graduation and Awards Ceremony, Kuala Lumpur, 13 May 2017. * * * Thank you for the opportunity to speak at the 20th AICB Chartered Banker’s Graduation and Awards Ceremony. My congratulations to the 1,062 graduates who have been certified across 15 qualifications. Today, you join the ranks of the over 18,600 banking professionals in the nation. Your graduation is not only an important step in your own careers, but also contributes to our shared aspirations of elevating the banking profession towards greater heights. When we reflect about professionalism, the medical profession often comes to mind for its dedication, devotion, care and interest for society. Over 2,000 years ago, the Hippocratic Oath was first introduced to the world. Today, most medical school students profess some form of the oath upon graduation. While written in antiquity, its principles are held sacred by doctors to this day. Its words have evolved with history. But its message remains the same: treat the sick to the best of one’s ability, preserve patient privacy, teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and much more. What is interesting is not the oath itself, but the principles it expounds and the deep philosophical values that have firmly grounded the medical profession over the years.
To echo the words of the poet William Butler Yeats: “Though the leaves are many, the root is one.” As a community of bankers, we should have one overriding root purpose – to serve and steward our community. The services we offer are to serve the larger interest of the community. We do not originate a loan merely to meet business targets, but to enable individuals to own homes, businesses to create jobs and for overall societal wellbeing Finance exists for society, not society for finance. We can no more detach ourselves from this social purpose than we can separate humanity from humans. It ought to be an inherent part of us, our profession’s DNA. This sense of identity and purpose should ground all our pursuits. It is also the thread that ties all 3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  functions of banking together. Whether you are in the credit, compliance, IT, risk management or audit functions, you share a common purpose to society and duty to serve the public interest. As we reflect back over the centuries, the first banks in the ancient world made grain loans to farmers and traders who travelled between cities. During the 15th – 18th century, banks also catalysed the financing of international trade, subsequently ushering in a new age of maritime discovery and exploration. The banking world then served the real needs of the economy.