Ethical Brand

Lawsuit: California Health Ins. Discriminate Against Women

The city of San Francisco maintained in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that California insurers are discriminating against women, charging them more for individual health insurance than men. The suit contends "gender rating" (a practice outlawed in ten states) which results in women paying as much as 39% more for coverage then men.

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Obama: Wall Street Bonuses "Outrageous"

A report released by the New York State comptroller's office and written up today by the New York Times found that Wall Street firms awarded over $18 billion in bonuses, despite the financial crisis that many of them helped trigger. AIG paid $450 million in bonuses to the unit that sold those disastrous credit default swpas...

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Merrill Lynch Settles for $550 Million

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows that Merrill Lynch & Co. has agreed to pay $550 million to settle two class-action lawsuits that accused it of failing to inform investors of the risks associated with its subprime mortgage investments for which the $70 billion Ohio State Teachers Retirement System was lead plaintiff.

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Ex-Lehman boss 'sold' $14m mansion to wife for $100

The disgraced chief executive of Lehman Brothers transferred ownership of a $14 million Florida mansion to his wife for $100 in a possible attempt to move assets beyond the reach of infuriated investors of the collapsed bank.

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Capitalism is on its knees - something fundamentally wrong

Can the market system finally be made to serve us? Or will we continue to serve it? George Soros is right when he says that "there is something fundamentally wrong" with the market theory that stands behind the global economy, a "defect" that is "inherent in the system." This crisis demands a fundamental change in consumer attitudes and behaviour.

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Gadget Company Engages in Pay-for-Praise Online

Apparently an Amazon.com sideline called Mechanical Turk has been a little naughty. However, it seems Belkin has been even more so... paying registered users 65cents for each product rating they input according to guidelines that clearly steer the reviewer in Belkin's favor and irrespective of whether or not they have actually used the product.

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No cowboys - professionalism is the antidote to economic woe

The best way to weather the commercial challenges accompanying the economic downturn is to maintain a rigid commitment to the highest levels of professional integrity at all times. This particular article addresses IT professionals, but there is no doubt that the fundamental is really quite homogeneous. Authentic professionals will prevail.

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Obama Echoes Drucker On Ethical Organizations

Obama is asking how can each of us, in our own way, help provide for the common good? Drucker asserts that we've become a society of big organizations and when these aren't effectively managed and ethically led, society as a whole stands to suffer; that 'being responsible' not only means 'doing the right things', but doing them well.

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Ethical Capitalism - Possible?

"There are promising signs of a more ethically minded business culture... shifting away from narrow, profit-driven models to... a greater focus on environmental and social issues... in the interconnected global community of today, organizations and individuals are banding together across cultural and geographic divides to solve common problems."

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Co-op and Britannia: 'doing the right thing' does scale

The merger of the UK's Co-op financial services and Britannia building society provides further evidence that the market for 'doing the right thing' is significant and growing. A spokesperson said "People have been crying out for a financial institution that has their interests at heart. This merger will create that organisation."

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