Ethical Issues in Madoff Case Ethical Issues

Ethical Issues in Madoff Case

Ethical Issues in Madoff Fraud Case

The objective of this study is to identify the ethical issues and questions in the Madoff fraud case. This work will identify the people harmed and answer as to whether the scandal resulted from unethical individuals or if there are organizational issues that allowed, encouraged or were responsible for the harms. In addition, this study will answer as to what degree, the case was mostly a failure of individuals or organizational structure and of government. This study examines what might have prevented the Madoff fraud case.

Who Was Affected?

It is reported that Bernie Madoff "worked under the company called Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. He would ask people to invest their money, and it actually seemed like the people were making returns. As all of their life savings would go into this business, Madoff would pay people the returns from money he made off new clients' investments. Madoff was not actually making money for these people but creating a huge scandal throughout the industry." ( )

II. What Was Missing?

Missing in the Bernie Madoff fraud case and the subprime mortgage crises is the ethics officers of such companies according to Parsons (2009) in an article published in The New York Times which specifically states "Most major U.S. companies have an ethics officer, but as investors survey the wreckage of a deepening financial crisis that has exposed behavior ranging from risky to downright illegal, one might ask, "What were they doing?" (p.1)

III. Who Was Responsible?

Bernie Madoff was responsible for his individual ethical failings while his company was responsible due to failure of accountability standards in the organization. Finally, the government failure is obviously due to the lack of regulating of such firms as Madoff's firms. Ultimately, those who were negatively affected include Bernie Madoff and his family, all employees of Madoff's organization, all clients, and investors of the organization and the financial industry at-large because investors felt they could no longer trust such organizations.

IV. What Could Have Been Done to Prevent the Fraud