Viewpoint ? Want Business Ethics to Prevail? Then Demand that the ...

by Andrea Falcione, Feb 14, 2012

What planet am I on?? Since when is insider trading legal ? for anyone?

?I, too, learned from 60 Minutes that there is apparently an insider trading loophole the size of Congress.? According to much of what I?ve read and heard, because U.S. Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen have no ?corporate responsibilities,? they are generally exempt from the rules that apply to you, me and the rest of the country.? And based on their roles and ?true? responsibilities, they are, not surprisingly, often privy to information about specific companies and entire industries long before Joe Q. Public becomes aware of it.? Sadly, but also not a surprise, it appears that many members of Congress ? on both sides of the aisle ? then go on to personally profit from that knowledge.? Although the irony may go without saying, I?ll say it anyway:? it?s very disturbing that the very people who legislate and regulate, often in the wake of and purportedly to prevent malfeasance, turn around and exhibit the exact same behavior they wish to prevent in others.?

It may be the first ? and the last ? time that I utter these words, but thank goodness it?s an election year!? In the wake of an abysmal approval rating of less than 15%, and facing the looming election, the U.S. Senate recently agreed to take up a bill which would prohibit members of Congress from engaging in insider trading.? Versions of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (Stock) Act have ? of course! ? languished in Congress for many years.? 60 Minutes changed all of that with the November 13^th ?airing of its story, ?Insiders.??? Now, the American public knows Congress?s dirty secret and, guess what?? We actually care.?

Many of us in the ethics and compliance field base each working day on some set of ideals and the desire to help corporate America become a better place.? Stories like this one make me question, at least for now, whether that goal is truly achievable.? If corporate denizens are regulated by thieves, won?t they simply learn from their masters?? It?s time for Washington to clean up its act, and passing the Stock Act would be a baby step ? but a step nonetheless.

Source: http://compliance.saiglobal.com/viewpoint/2012/02/want-business-ethics-to-prevail-then-demand-that-the-u-s-capitol-get-its-house-in-order/

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