Business Ethics in the Banking Industry: Some Remarks

Individual banks as well as the banking industry as a whole are facing broad public unease because of a wide range of scandals such as insider trading, money laundering and misuse of funds for personal gain. In this climate, in the United Kingdom just as in Germany, ethical questions have become more relevant for banks especially because there is an awareness that only the tip of the iceberg of illegal and unethical dealings has been exposed. As a consequence, for a larger part of the public, banking business and moral principles are considered to be more and more antagonistic. Regarding these developments, banks seem to need some good advice on how to cope with their ethical problems, in order to regain public acceptance.