Stress testing stressing me out…

Dave

Dave is a part-time blogger that writes about whatever suits him at the time.

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4 Responses

  1. Chris Dierkes says:

    I think this is kabuki of the highest (lowest?) order. just to make it look like they are cracking down when in reality this is wink wink nudge nudge all around.Report

  2. Bob says:

    Since this post is listed as “Minutiae, Ephemera and Various Ramblings” and since we have this, “Perhaps the biggest lesson, though, is that banks, like plenty of other companies, will get drunk on their own Kool-Aid,” this recent tidbit from The Knight of Columbus and Marist College is appropriate,

    New Poll Shows Majority of Public Believes Corporate America Needs New Moral
    Direction

    Executives and public agree companies not driven by public good, say ethics
    should be priority

    Embargoed until 4:45 p.m. ESTFebruary 26, 2009

    Most Americans give corporate America poor or failing grades for honesty and
    ethics and rate the country’s business leadership as poor during this time of
    economic crisis, according to a Marist Poll commissioned by the Knights of
    Columbus.

    Among the American public, 76% believe that corporate America’s moral compass
    is pointed in the wrong direction, 58% of corporate executives agree; and a
    majority of Americans, and two-thirds of executives, gave a grade of D or F in
    ethical matters to the financial and investment industry.

    The poll of 2,071 adults and 110 high-level business leaders also showed that
    Americans believe personal financial gain and career advancement drive the
    business decisions of executives while concern for employees and public good
    seldom factors into corporate decisions.

    “Today, America faces a serious problem with a financial crisis caused in no
    small part by greed — the public lacks confidence in our financial system,
    and in much of ‘corporate America,'” said Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the
    Knights of Columbus. “This confidence cannot and will not be restored until
    American executives and companies choose to be guided by a moral compass in
    their business decisions. Only a strong commitment to ethical business
    practices on the part of executives and the companies they lead can restore
    America’s confidence in its financial system.”

    Along with Wall Street and financial industry executives, politicians received
    “poor” marks in ethics from a majority of Americans, and a majority of
    executives. Doctors and accountants received the best marks for ethics among
    both Americans and executives.

    More than 90% of Americans and 90% of executives see career advancement,
    personal financial gain, increasing profits, or gaining competitive advantage
    as the primary factors that corporate executives take into account when making
    business decisions. Only 31% of Americans, and 32% of executives believe the
    “public good” is a strong motivating factor.

    Interestingly, three-quarters of Americans, and more than nine in ten
    executives think that a business can be both successful and ethical. However,
    while 74% of Americans and 86% of executives believe people should have the
    same ethical standards in business as in their personal lives, more than half
    of executives, and nearly three quarters of Americans, think that most people
    miss that mark.

    The survey indicated that the public and executives believe that religion
    provides a good ethical standard for doing business. Nearly two-thirds of
    Americans believe that religious beliefs should significantly influence
    executives’ business decisions. More than two-thirds of executives agree.

    The study was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus and conducted by the
    Marist College Institute for Public Opinion; 2,071 adults nationwide were
    interviewed from January 25 through February 3, 2009. The data from corporate
    executives was collected between January 26 and February 5, 2009. The results
    for Americans are statistically significant at ±2.5%.

    CONTACT: Andrew T. Walther, Director of Media Relations of Knights of
    Columbus, +1-203-824-5412

    /PRNewswire-USNewswire – Feb. 26/

    SOURCE Knights of ColumbusReport

  3. Dave says:

    I’ll take a look at that later but I need to edit that comment so it’s more readable (not add or remove, just clean up).Report

  4. Dave says:

    I’ll take a look at that later but I need to edit that comment so it’s more readable (not add or remove, just clean up).Report