Ethics in Finance
15 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2008 Last revised: 10 Nov 2021
There are 2 versions of this paper
Ethics in Finance
Ethics in Finance
Abstract
This paper reflects on the role of ethics in field of finance.
Excerpt
UVA-F-1503
Version 4.0
ETHICS IN FINANCE
The first thing is character, before money or anything else.
—J. P. Morgan (in testimony before the U.S. Congress)
The professional concerns himself with doing the right thing rather than making money, knowing that the profit takes care of itself if the other things are attended to.
—Edwin LeFevre, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Integrity is paramount for a successful career in finance and business, as practitioners remind us. One learns, rather than inherits, integrity. And the lessons are everywhere, even in case studies about finance. To some people, the world of finance is purely mechanical, devoid of ethical considerations. The reality is that ethical issues are pervasive in finance. Exhibit 1 gives a list of prominent business scandals around the turn of the twenty-first century. One is struck by the wide variety of industrial settings and especially by the recurrent issues rooted in finance and accounting. Still, the disbelief that ethics matter in finance can take many forms.
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Keywords: finance, ethics introduction ethical issues
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