A Regulator on Bank Ethics

Recently the CEOs of the Business Roundtable issued a policy statement that proclaimed the purpose of the corporation is to promote “an economy that serves all Americans.”  Hopefully that would embrace the vital role of cooperative credit unions.

The Chairman of the Business Roundtable is Jamie Dimon, who is also CEO and Chair of JP Morgan Chase and Co. The statement is a positive example of a vision for corporate America that transcends the single-minded pursuit of shareholder value.

But the challenge is more than an expanded purpose statement as we are reminded in the following comment:

“There is evidence of deep-seated cultural and ethical failures at many large financial institutions. Whether this is due to size and complexity, bad incentives or some other issues is difficult to judge, but it is another critical problem that needs to be addressed.”

William Dudley, President, New York Federal Reserve Bank, November 7, 2013

This observation was years before Wells Fargo’s decade long mistreatment of consumers became public.

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