We sure don’t want to be, but it looks like we are heading in that direction. “In the name of affordable loans, the White House is creating the conditions for a replay of the housing disaster,” states the caption in a recent WSJ article on the “coming mortgage meltdown.” [tweetthis twitter_handles=”@richardmbowen”]Why are we – oh,… [Read More]
Whistleblowing for Dummies
In the last several months I’ve been posting my opinions about the Department of Justice, former Attorney General Eric Holder and numerous other thoughts about whistleblowing and the 2008 financial debacle; as well as my concerns that Citi and the Too Big To Fail Banks are now heading in the same direction that landed us… [Read More]
Ethical Leadership- Culture is the Culprit!
People act in their own best interests; not necessarily because they believe they are doing the right thing or because they may be punished or rewarded for doing so. And if a company wants to promote and assure ethical standards are followed then transparency, trust and developing an ethical culture based on guiding principles is… [Read More]
Is Citi the next AIG… ?
An interesting and disturbing piece of news just came across my radar. The Office of the Currency Comptroller’s most recent report of the total amount of derivatives held at the Big 4 banks shows that Citibank has surpassed JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America with $70 trillion in holdings, making it the single… [Read More]
Who Owns Congress?
The recent efforts from Citi and the banking establishment to repeal key provisions of the Dodd- Frank reform bill and the furor it is causing may have some positive effect. The public is getting more insight into how the Too Big To Fail banks are writing the rules. According to Scott Burns, Dallas Morning news… [Read More]
How Wall Street Foils Truth, Trust, Transparency and Democracy
Headlines recently focused on Citigroup and its blatant power over government with the inclusion of a Citi-written provision in year-end funding legislation that guts part of Dodd-Frank’s restrictions on banking. It seems that while we were paying attention to, as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) labeled it, Wall Street institutions’ extraordinary influence in Washington’s corridors of… [Read More]
Whistle blowing on the rise!
A recent Wall Street Journal article announced new winners benefiting from the last financial crisis- whistle blowers! Four whistleblowers will be receiving more than $170 million for helping investigators obtain a $16.6 billion penalty against Bank of America for inflating the value of its mortgage practices. According to Richard Moberly, law professor at the University… [Read More]
Senator Warren: Enough is Enough with “Too Big To Fail” Citigroup
Kudos to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren for ripping Citigroup apart last week in her challenge to Congress and exposing Wall Street’s continued unethical activities. Senator Warren vehemently objected to a little-known provision written by Citigroup and inserted in the year end funding bill that would undo a new financial regulation and allow Wall Street to… [Read More]
Penn Mutual’s Guiding Principles: a First Step Toward Fraud Prevention
Some companies are getting it right. Recently, I was hired by Penn Mutual, one of the oldest values-driven companies in America. At this event, under the direction of Chairman, President & CEO Eileen McDonnell, Penn Mutual’s leadership team introduced the firm’s guiding principles with a straightforward message: Penn Mutual is committed to maintaining a culture which… [Read More]
The Kellogg Case Study Award on Anti-Corruption and Inspiration
In my recent post on ethical and responsible leadership, I mentioned the international award for the Outstanding Case Study on Anti-Corruption, given by the United Nations Compact Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and Giving Voice to Values (GVV) and presented at the North American Case Research Association (NACRA) conference: Through the Eyes of a Whistle-Blower:… [Read More]
