How would you rate your company’s ethical culture? Here’s the good news… the corporate fraud and ethical scandals of the last ten plus years have shown a spotlight on the importance of ethics. According to the 2019 Ethics and Compliance Program Effectiveness Report, based on a survey of 480 ethics, compliance and legal professionals at large… [Read More]
Let’s Get Real!
Authentic is defined as being true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character; no pretensions. Recent studies emphasize that bringing the real you, the whole self, an authentic self to work impacts ethical behavior. According to Maryam Kouchaki’s recent research with Mahdi Ebrahimi and Vanessa Patrick, it seems that “enabling people to bring their whole selves… [Read More]
Wall Street Is Dancing in the Street!
The Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) voted last Wednesday to pass the Regulation Best Interest rule. The Commission claims the changes would help Main Street investors by tightening the standards governing brokers who sell investment products and outlining a fresh interpretation of the duties of investment advisers who provide financial guidance. According to Jay Clayton, the… [Read More]
On my honor… the Compliance or Ethics Debate
Bruce Weinstein, a leadership strategist and consultant, writing in a Forbes magazine article points out that “High character leaders ask, ‘What is required of me,’ but they don’t leave it at that; the highly ethical ones also ask ‘What is the right thing to do?’” They ask: What would an honorable person do, how does… [Read More]
This is Not a fairy tale!!!
All children’s stories start with once upon a time and have heroes and villains. In this case, this story, while it involves children’s books, has a slew of villains who might yet triumph over the heroes. Baltimore’s Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned under pressure last week, after revelations that she made more than $500,000 selling her… [Read More]
How to Stamp Out Fraud!
Is your organization immune from fraud? The 2019 Annual Fraud Conference recently held at the University of Texas at Dallas gave practical steps to assure you are. The conference was an outstanding success and I was honored to have been part of it once again. The conference attendees; internal auditors, CPA’s, faculty and students, learned… [Read More]
Everybody Lies!
You can’t pick up a newspaper, turn on a news channel or be online without getting the latest on the college admission bribery scandal. In fact, a federal college admissions probe has led to the criminal indictment of more than 50 people nationwide and sparked a class action lawsuit. This latest round involves lying, cheating… [Read More]
The Fed Has a Concern? Really?
And if they are concerned, shouldn’t we be worried as well? For some time, many experts, including William (Bill) D. Cohan, a former investment banker and author of several books, including the most recent, Why Wall Street Matters, have been warning us about the dangers of the corporate debt bubble. Lest we forget, the Federal… [Read More]
Richard Bowen on WRVO, Syracuse University
In November I had the honor of visiting Syracuse University for the Robert Shetterly and the Americans Who Tell the Truth: Models of Courageous Citizenship portraits celebration. This was following the Washington, D.C. unveiling of five portraits of people honored as whistleblowers by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) where I was honored to be one of them. The week… [Read More]
Should the Big Banks Be Nervous?
Will the new scrutiny House Financial Services Committee chairwoman Maxine Waters proposes prevent another financial crisis? Last week Ms. Waters pledged that this committee will keep an eye on the larger banks and pay closer attention to whether regulators were trying to weaken the safeguards and regulations enacted after the last financial crisis. What some… [Read More]
