ABSTRACT
When George Rae was giving this advice to would-be bank managers over a century ago, he was pointing to one of the great dichotomies of the banking profession. He understood and respected the requirement for confidentiality; bankers have access to particular and privileged information. At the same time, as a practising and highly successful bank manager in his own right, he recognised that such information could often be of most help to the bank, or to its customer, if it could be shared with other bankers, with suppliers and with professional advisers. The 'good opinion' of a banker was - and is - a powerful ingredient in the business community. Rae was anxious that succeeding generations of bankers and customers should come to a sensible and pragmatic understanding about the exchange of information.
