The actions by O'Neal and Prince are clearly more than just poor decision making. They represent irresponsible and unethical behavior. Years after the Enron diabolical, boards of certain financial institutions seem to lack transparency into the decision of their corporate executives and company financials and are not demanding adherence to appropriate levels of risk. Sarbanes was meant to increase accountability, but CEOs are still intimidating those who question their actions and are still trying to resort to cover-up tactics.
Given the Merrill Lynch and Citigroup situations, the need for additional government regulation or oversight of financial institutions is currently under consideration. Opponents of regulation argue that markets and companies operate more efficiently without government involvement. Yet, the recent role of the government in bailing out Bear Stearns demonstrates that the bad behavior...
The government had to take action because our economy requires a sound financial system to operate properly and because the failure of one large financial institution would not just negatively effect that institution, but other businesses and the overall economy.
The behavior of financial companies such as Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Bear Stearns has shown very clearly that management will not act responsibly and ethically on their own accord. it's not fair to taxpayers to pay the price when these firms fail as a result of this type of behavior, but they have to protect our financial system. Therefore, financial institutions represent special types of corporations that require appropriate government regulation.
Bibliography
Cramer, J.J. (2007, November 12). Street justice. New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/news/businessfinance/bottomline/40639
