Integrity Based Financial leadership & Ethical Behavior

The so-called "crisis of financial integrity" has been met with a flurry of laws and regulations designed to restore public confidence in corporations. Likewise, many financial institutions and some corporations seem to be trying to outdo one another in announcing new policies demonstrating their commitment to integrity and ethical behavior. Yet, the vast majority of corporations and financial executives are not unnerved by this situation instead expressing their strong, if not passionate, belief that ethical behavior and financial integrity remain the rule of the day. Rather than believing that investor confidence can be restored by external regulation, they see the importance of staying the course and "walking-the-walk" as both the ethical gate keepers and consciences of their organizations. In this FERF report to be released this month, a variety of financial executives, drawn from public, private and not-for-profit companies, share their thoughts, insights, and practices that relate to the "crisis" of financial integrity. Specifically, they were interviewed by the researchers regarding: (1) the pressures financial executives face in fulfilling their responsibilities of financial leadership and ethical behavior; (2) the organizational practices and competencies that most relate to the effective handling of such pressures; and (3) a "needs analysis" of what organizations feel would be most helpful to have (in terms of competencies and tools) as they move forward with their quest for assuring demonstrated financial leadership and integrity-based behavior.