Perhaps we all owe Goldman Sachs an apology. Everyone heaped outrage and ridicule the April spectacle of its executives going before the U.S. Senate and asserting under oath that they saw nothing at all unethical about intentionally selling “crappy” investment products to their trusting customers, then making money for their own firm by betting that the products would fail. Many were reminded of the tobacco executives, in the famous AP photo, all raising their hands to swear that they did not believe nicotine was addictive. After all, Goldman Sachs’s own website pledged openness, honesty, trustworthiness and integrity, saying.....
....
Now it seems that we were lacking a crucial document: the firm’s internal Code of Ethics, which Goldman Sachs recently made public. Under the provisions of this remarkable Code, what Goldman Sachs did to its clients wasn’t unethical at all; deceptive, conflicted, and unfair, yes…but not unethical, in the sense that it didn’t violate the Ethics Code itself. “Impossible!” you say? Ah, you underestimate the firm’s cleverness.
.....
SECTION III
Waivers of This Code
From time to time, the firm may waive certain provisions of this Code. Any
employee or director who believes that a waiver may be called for should discuss the
matter with an Appropriate Ethics Contact. Waivers for executive officers (including
Senior Financial Officers) or directors of the firm may be made only by the Board of
Directors or a committee of the Board...
Brilliant! Any time conduct prohibited by the Code of Ethics is inconvenient, as in “it stops us from making more money,” Goldman Sachs can “waive” it. This means, in their eyes, that activities like deceiving clients, operating with significant conflicts of interest, and breaches of confidentiality are generally unethical and prohibited by their Code of Ethics, but since the same Code lays out a procedure to temporarily “waive” any of these provisions “from time to time,” the firm can lie to clients and undermine the interests of investors for the firm’s own profit without violating its Ethics Code. Applying a strict compliance standard, as most businesses do, Goldman Sachs can do almost anything (“from time to time”) without technically violating its Code—unless it does so without getting those ethics “waivers”. Now that would be, in the culture of Goldman Sachs, unethical.
.....
Read the rest here
5 COMMENTS:
The Other Side of Goldman Sachs:
One Crowd Still Loyal to Goldman Sachs
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Lots of people are talking about what is happening at Goldman Sachs. This is a column about what is not happening at Goldman.
More here:
http://tinyurl.com/25kmwmd
As an ex-employee this does not surprise me and indeed their 'neurosis' that they are not doing anything wrong by their own flexible & dynamic ethical code of conduct is laughable and truly reveals their true level of expression in this world. Continue to give GS enough rope and they will surely hang themselves; it is already happening. When they start quoting or rather presenting their own abridged version of quotes from the bible we know they are going down the pan and it will be a welcome day for all and truth winning over outrageous deceptive lying cheating and anti-life corporate behaviour.
Thank you Anonymous for confirming what we have suspected all along.
Thank you too JR for all the excellent links.
The Breitling Watches Emergency version has been credited with the life saving feature of a radio transmitter broadcasting on the distress frequency of 121.5 MHz. This Chrono Superocean feature can be used as a ELT-type beacon. For military use, the Superocean can be equipped with a transmitter Chronomat B01 broadcasts on the military frequency.
These cheap Coach bags for sale are also produced by factory and Coach Legacy made from inexpensive Coach Luggage materials. These cheap Coach Madison are hundreds of products out there boasting the same styles as close to be considered the fake handbags.
As the ED clothing brand's fame continues to rise, it is only natural to expect to see ED Hardy Shoes on more and more members of the Hollywood scene. The celebrity status of the ED Hardy Shoes brand has continued to increase over the years as more hardy shirt stores have opened in areas around the world.
Post a Comment