Deutsche Bank Spying affaire Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Deutsche Bank Spying affaire - Research Paper Example c, the affair struck at the heart of a country still struggling with its past identity where spying on citizens in the Communist East was a matter of course. How the bank will weather these latest charges is one question. What impact the investigations will have on stakeholders is another that affects not only the future of Deutsche Bank but also its reputation and credibility as a major player on the world financial stage. The four cases of surveillance concern a nuisance shareholder, an investigative journalist, a supervisory board member suspected of leaking information, four senior bank managers and a private person who sent threatening letters to Deutsche Bank board members. Among the targets of the surveillance were Gerald Herrmann, a former union leader and supervisory board member who was suspected of leaking sensitive company information to the media.  Michael Bohndorf, an activist shareholder who has been critical of the bank; and Hermann-Josef Lamberti, Deutsche Banks chief operating officer. The Bank launched its own investigation in the spring of 2009 and by mid-summer the affair had been turned over to BaFin, the German financial regulator. The investigative results were passed to the German data protection authority who has in turn submitted them to the German public prosecutors office. Tactics employed by the bank included media reports that detectives hired by Deutsche Bank were instructed to test Lambertis security consciousness by trying to plant a GPS tracking device in his car and sending a bouquet of flowers containing an inactive microphone to his home. Bohndorf, the activist shareholder, said that private investigators posed as vacationers and spied on his home on the Spanish island of Ibiza after he asked a number of provocative questions at a Deutsche Bank shareholders meeting in 2006. His contention was that detectives tried to determine if he had a weakness for women by setting up a "honey trap" operation that involved a chance

Accounting article, read and answer the questions Article

Accounting , read and answer the questions - Article Example While these conflicts of interest are very real, they note that we often dismiss them as unimportant, or having no effect. This is because we believe that these professions and professionals adhere to a strong system of ethical standards. But, according to the authors, such conflict of interest situations do have a very marked effect. Thus they suggest a theory of â€Å"moral seduction† which allows most professionals to accept conflict of interest as inevitable and harmless. In addition, they cite Kunda (1990) and argue that people are naturally self-serving. Furthermore, auditors work within a framework of incentive and accountability – the authors cite Bazerman, Morgan & Lowenstein, 1997 – and hence are just as susceptible to subjectivity and bias as any other professionals. 3. The argument of the writers convincingly states that both on an in individual, psychological, and cognitive level, and on a broader social, and political level, conflicts of interest have come to be taken very lightly. Therefore, even if someone wants to bring about reform, and stop dishonest, biased practice within the auditing industry, he/she would face many difficulties. Changing mindsets about conflict of interest within society generally would be required, not just change among auditors. 4. The authors refer to Moore & Lowenstein (2004) to suggest that corporate ethics changed from what is morally right to what is technically legal. Restated, they claim that a set of values-based beliefs – about honest reporting, accountability, and accuracy – were replaced by a less morally- based approach. Auditors were able to justify any inaccuracy, or even misrepresentation of financial information, by finding legal loopholes. So, where the necessity existed for misreporting, auditors would find a way to justify that misrepresentation in the law, an external system, rather