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30 U. Fla. L. Rev. 310 (1977-1978)
Structuring A Workable Business Code of Ethics

handle is hein.journals/uflr30 and id is 324 raw text is: STRUCTURING A WORKABLE BUSINESS CODE OF ETHICS CHARLES E. HARRIS* INTRODUCTION Although the problem is far from new,1 the so-called moral crisis in business has surfaced again, bringing with it new demands for the creation of a realistic set of ethical standards to guide our nation's business managers.2 Left unattended since the price-fixing and stock fraud scandals of the 1960's,3 business ethics problems have again become the subject of discussion with the rise of a heightened sense of public morality growing out of the recent Water- gate era.4 Attention to such problems has been focused by recent disclosures of corporate bribes and slush funds,5 excessive executive perks,6 and ques- tionable banking practices3 In response, the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched wide- spread investigations into questionable business practices and has proposed stiff new disclosure requirements. Federal bank regulators have imposed strict rules designed to curb insider abuses9 and far more severe legislative proposals *A.B. 1969, University of Florida; J.D. 1972, Harvard University; Member of The Florida Bar. 1. See, e.g., Luke 16:1-12; Baumhart, Problems in Review: How Ethical are Businessmen, 39 HARV. Bus. Rxv. 6 (1961); Baumhart & Fitzpatrick, Inertia in Business Ethics, 108 AMERICA 798 (1963); Teare, The Merchant Ethic, 17 A.B.A.J. 223 (1931). 2. See, e.g., Beran, How to Be Ethical in an Unethical World, 42 VITAL SPEECHES 602 (1976); Hill, The Ethical Basis of Economic Freedom, 42 VITAL SPEECHES 345 (1976); Editorial: Business Ethics, DuN's REv., Apr., 1976, at 100. 3. See, e.g., Randall, For a New Code of Business Ethics, N.Y. Times, Apr. 8, 1962 (Maga- zine), at 24; Businessmen, the Law, and Ethics FORTUNE, Oct., 1968, at 39. 4. See SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, REPORT ON QUESTIONABLE AND ILLEGAL CORPORATE PAYMENTS AND PRACTICES, submitted to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, May 12, 1976, FED. SEC. L. REP. (CCH), No. 642, Part II (May 19, 1976). See notes 5-7, 13 infra. 5. E.g., Those Business Payoffs Didn't All Go Abroad; Bosses Got Some Too, Wall St. J. May 2, 1977, at 1, col. 6. 6. E.g., id. Cf. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 13,872, (Aug. 18, 1977), 42 Fed. Reg. 43,058 (1977); Executives' Privileges are Under Heavy Fire but Appear Resilient, Wall St. J., Oct. 19, 1977, at 1, col. 6; The SEC Focuses on Executive Perks, BUs. WK., Apr. 18, 1977, at 52. 7. E.g., Lance Comes Out Swinging, Time, Sept. 26, 1977, at 12, 17-20; What the Report Says, NEWSWEEK, Aug. 29, 1977, at 18-19; Lance Survives, But His Banking Style May Not, NAT'L J., Aug. 27, 1977, at 1351. 8. Cf. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 13,872, (Aug. 18, 1977), 42 Fed. Reg. 43,058 (1977); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 13,185 (Jan. 19, 1977), 42 Fed. Reg. 4,854 (1977), comment period extended in Securities Exchange Act Release No. 13,381 (Mar. 16, 1977), 42 Fed. Reg. 15,921 (1977). See Sierck & Watson, Post-Watergate Business Conduct: What Role for the SEC?, 31 Bus. LAW. 721 (1976). 9. E.g., 12 C.F.R. § §23.1, 337.3 (1977). 310

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