Times when a man’s word may not necessarily be his bond

THE motto of the London Stock Exchange is the Latin phrase, Dictum Menum Pactum which means, “my word is my bond.” It suggests that in the Exchange, bargains are made with no exchange of documents. In layman's terms, when a man utters this phrase, he is making a promise that he intends to honour.

When the opposite happens and a financial advisor doesn't honour his word, the consequences can be disastrous for clients. It's worse when the client is trusting, which happened to the 70-year-old widow of my father's childhood friend. As a full-time housewife, she used to rely on her late husband to manage their finances. A widow for three years, she now relies mostly on various financial advisors to help her.