Ethics and Financial Markets: The Role of the Analyst

The ethical issues that financial professionals face are no different from the ethical issues in any profession—or, indeed, the day-to-day dilemmas we all face. These issues are readily resolved through the use of three simple questions: Does this violate the law? Is this honest? What if I were on the other side? These three basic ethical standards are often complicated, extrapolated, rationalized, refined, and confused as those in the financial markets grapple with what they believe are more complex ethical issues today than in the past. But as this review shows, the ethical issues in the financial markets today are no different from those that managers of money and assets, financial advisers, and analysts have faced over the centuries.