The Role of Ethics in the Anglo-Saxon Financial System

The current process of the globalization of finance has showed significant questions related to the behaviour of market participants and to the ethical dimension of business operations, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon financial system. In this context, the recent banking and corporate scandals (such as, for example, the collapse of Northern Rock, Lehman Brothers and the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate – LIBOR) revealed the problematic relationship between some financiers and ethics. This paper attempts to argue that the Anglo-Saxon financial market is centred on an attention to increase in profit, an objective which comes under a regulatory framework marked by the adoption of “principles-based” schemes and forms of self-regulation. For this reason there is a need to give particular attention to the proper functioning of financial relationships, with a view to safeguarding the interests of all actors who operate in the market. As a result, the achievement of acceptable levels of ethics depends on “prudent management” and, therefore, on the ability of intermediaries to pursue operational conducts based on fairness and transparency.