Sarbanes-Oxley and the Compliance Ethics Quandary: A Practitioner’s View

When first reading the title of the conference at which this paper was pre sented?"Ethics in the Financial Services After Sarbanes-Oxley"?the industry practitioner may be drawn to the subject in various ways. For some, especially those with extensive years of service, experience may lead one to the simple, yet immensely powerful belief that if you do right, you will do well. Though it may take more time to achieve the desired results, with the right design, organizational support, and staying power, the benefits can ultimately accrue and be more powerful and self-sustaining. For others who have studied ethics at both the theoretical and practical levels, there may be the focused goal of applying those lessons in the workplace. Often this is done through the crafting of workplace education programs that make ethics an integral and seamless part of the curriculum, irrespective of the subject being taught. Finally, and on a far more personal level, there are the underpinnings of the moral exemplar and the impact of one's actions on those with whom we come in contact, or who view us from afar. For it is through action that the ultimate tests of one's convictions are displayed for all the world to see.