NIIT University | Ethics in Finance | | | Aman Sawhney | |

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Contents Introduction 1 Why Ethics Matters 1 Ethics and Ethical Dilemma 2 Creating an Ethical Environment 3 Reasons for Unethical Behavior 4 Ethical issues in Finance 4 Financial Statement 5 Fictitious Revenues 5 Off-balance Sheet Financing 5 Hidden Reserves 5 Hostile Takeovers 6 Insider Trading 6

Introduction

Ethics in general is concerned with human behavior that is acceptable or "right" and that is not acceptable or "wrong" based on conventional morality. General ethical norms encompass truthfulness, honesty, integrity, respect for others, fairness, and justice. They relate to all aspects of life, including business and finance. Financial ethics is, therefore, a subset of general ethics.
Ethical norms are essential for maintaining stability and harmony in social life, where people interact with one another. Recognition of others' needs and aspirations, fairness, and cooperative efforts to deal with common issues are, for example, aspects of social behavior that contribute to social stability. In the process of social evolution, we have developed not only an instinct to care for ourselves but also a conscience to care for others. There may arise situations in which the need to care for ourselves runs into conflict with the need to care for others. In such situations, ethical norms are needed to guide our behavior. As Demsey (1999) puts it: "Ethics represents the attempt to resolve the conflict between selfishness and selflessness; between our material needs and our conscience."
Finance and Accounts is perhaps the only business function which accepts responsibility to act in public interest. Hence, a finance and accounting professional’s responsibility is not restricted to satisfy the needs of any particular individual or organisation While acting in