Business Ethics

Tag Archive for ‘Wall Street’

Banks’ Self-Dealing Super-Charged Financial Crisis

Over the last two years of the housing bubble, Wall Street bankers perpetrated one of the greatest episodes of self-dealing in financial history. Faced with increasing difficulty in selling the mortgage-backed securities that had been among their most lucrative products, the banks hit on a solution that preserved their quarterly earnings and huge bonuses: They created fake demand.

Goldman Sachs to Pay $550 Million Penalty to Settle Charges

Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs will pay a record $550 million penalty and reform a number of its business practices to settle SEC charges that it misled investors in a subprime mortgage product just as the U.S. housing market was starting to collapse. The settlement came on the same day that the U.S. Senate approved a sweeping financial reform bill that promises profound changes in the way Goldman and other investment banks do business.

Fried Chicken, Krispy Kreme and Lobbying

Last December, a $500 donation could buy a ticket to a fundraiser that, the invitation said, would feature “Bojangles’ Fried Chicken, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, And Mel Watt, of course!” Two days later, Watt, a Democratic congressman from North Carolina, withdrew a provision from the House’s financial reform bill that would have regulated loans from car dealers.

Securities and Exchange Commission Fact Sheet on U.S. Proxy System Inquiry

This is a complete text of the July 14, 2010 fact sheet issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking comment on the U.S. proxy system.

Senate Bill Changes Rules for Boards, Executive Pay

The bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 59-39, requires directors to win by majority vote in uncontested elections, gives the SEC authority to grant shareholders proxy access to nominate directors and gives shareholders the right to a nonbinding vote on executive pay. The measure must be reconciled with a House bill.

Enron on Broadway: No Accounting for Bad Behavior

“Enron” the play tries hard to stimulate, dazzle and entertain. The problem is that it tries too hard. In the process it dilutes the authentic drama and power of the story behind Enron the company, a real-life corporate tragedy that really needed no embellishment.

Obama Presses for Shareholder Reforms

In a speech, the President reviewed causes of the recent financial crisis, pointedly declaring that some on Wall Street “forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there is family looking to buy a house, pay for an education, open a business, or save for retirement.” He also declared: “A free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it.”