November 1, 2017- Ethics and Accountability

Despite the large-scale financial scandal that Bernie Madoff perpetrated, virtually all wealth management advisers—attorneys, financial planners, and planned giving professionals—face ethical dilemmas regularly. From representing multiple clients to determining reasonable fees, the underlying principles are often the same and the research is fairly clear: increasing the financial impact can usually alter our ethical views.

Most professions have adopted general standards of conduct and practice aimed at guiding professional decisions, such as the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys. But even after adopting those Rules, there seems to be increasing number ethical lapses nationwide. This course will review court cases that illustrate those ethical breaches and how to avoid them.

Ultimately, the course attempts to leave participants with one question: are my ethical principles largely based on the associated economic rewards: are they only a matter of degree?

About the Speaker

Steve Goodman is owner and president of TrainWorks, a leading provider of customized, independent training in wealth management, customer service, and business ethics.

Currently, Steve travels the country extensively as one of the lead instructors for several of the American Bankers Association’s in-bank training programs on topics ranging from wealth management concepts to ethics. He is also on the faculty of the Pacific Coast Banking School in Seattle, where he teaches financial planning and trust concepts to private bankers and commercial lenders, and where he has been named one of the top three instructors for six years in a row.

In addition, Steve has been an instructor at the Southeastern School of Banking for 25 years, teaching sales, ethics and estate planning techniques to lenders, customer service personnel and regulators. Besides training, Steve also writes a quarterly Newsletter that addresses the latest financial and legal developments affecting high net worth taxpayers.

Before forming TrainWorks, Steve worked in the financial services industry where he was a trust administrator, business development officer and a regional manager in charge of both trust and retail brokerage services. Steve attended undergraduate school at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he earned a B.S. degree in Communications, with high honors, and then attended Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. He then graduated, with honors, from the National Graduate Trust School at Northwestern University.

Steve has been licensed to practice law in Alabama and Tennessee.

CFRE POINT(S): 1

CLE DUEL HOUR(S): 1

Thank you to our event sponsor: Southern Trophy

Program from 3:00-4:30 with a reception to follow

Members: $27.00

Non- Members: $35.00

First Time Attendee: Free