Bernard “Bernie” Lawrence Madoff is an American investment adviser and stock broker who operated Madoff Investments in an unethically acceptable manner. He used the company as a front to commit a Ponzi scheme which fleeced investors of over $65 billion. This has been regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Madoff grew up in a humble background and he established the Madoff Investments Company with support from the father in law. A few friends and family members also supported Madoff with the operations and growth of the business. Madoff used the returns from investment to support several charitable and political causes which his firm believed in.… Read the rest
Business Ethics
Good Governance – Meaning, Principles and Characteristics
In general, good governance is perceived as a normative principle of administrative law, which obliges the State to perform its functions in a manner that promotes the values of efficiency, no corruptibility, and responsiveness to civil society. It is therefore a principle that is largely associated with statecraft. While the government is not obliged to substantively deliver any public goods, it must ensure that the processes for the identification and delivery of such goods are concrete in terms of i) being responsive to public demands; ii) being transparent in the allocation of resources and; iii) being equitable in the distribution of goods.… Read the rest
Carroll’s Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility
In the past, the common perception of a business responsibility was to maximize their firm’s profit. This is because businesses were perceived to always put the shareholder interests first. However, businesses are moving towards impacting the socials and environments. Several studies have found that businesses now have direct responsibilities to various other stakeholders which include preventing the harm of human rights and ensuring that there are solutions available if abuses occur.
The modern view of business responsibility demands companies to help in problems relating to public welfare. As firms have no utmost responsibility for these unpleasant situations, philanthropic responsibilities are still not mandatory.… Read the rest
Case Study on Business Ethics: The Inside Story of the Collapse of AIG
AIG or American International Group and its subsequent failure are one of, if not the most well-known company failures in financial history. Of the more recent bankruptcies filed for companies like Enron and Worldcom, the effects and unforeseeable consequences of the failure of a company like AIG would be much more widespread and felt by many more Americans at the lay person level. AIG is primarily an insurance company that sells Property casualty, life, and travel insurance to customers the world over. However, there was another arm to the company known as AIG FP or American International Group Financial Products division.… Read the rest
Madoff Scandal – How Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme Worked?
Bernard L. Madoff, simply known as Bernie is an American allegedly the operator of what is known as the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Bernie before his capture, acted as the stock broker, investment adviser and non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. It was not later than 2009 when Madoff pleaded guilty; he was guilty for turning his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme. This scheme according to various sources defrauded thousands of investors billions of dollars.
In 1960, Bernard Madoff founded one of the biggest firms in Wall Street. He was the chairman of his company “Madoff Investment Securities LLC”, until his arrest was warranted on the December of 2008.… Read the rest
Case Study: Scam of the Century – Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme
In the world of finance, there are a select amount of manipulative masterminds that sit on a throne of lies. Those who commit these white-collar crimes take advantage of institutions and all classes of people. Ultimately, the enormity of these crimes brings ruin and chaos to the lives of those affected. In this manner, Bernard Lawrence Madoff is just one of these individuals who ran history’s largest Ponzi scheme.
To begin, Bernie Madoff was born in Queens, New York in 1938. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Hofstra University in 1960 and shortly thereafter started his own firm known as Bernard L.… Read the rest