It’s a sad reality that there’s a need, and demand, for a journal called Ethics & Finance. It’s also a sad reality that it is necessary for The Analyst to have an issue with a trust and ethics theme each year as, clearly, some financial professionals are still continuing to act unscrupulously. Insider trading, Ponzi schemes, bribery—the list of unethical behaviours seems endless, and the cost is not only to victims but to companies. Bernie Madoff was arrested in 2009 for swindling his clients out of US$65 billion, making it the largest Ponzi scheme to date. And in 2017, according to BDO Canada, fraudulent behaviour cost Canadian businesses $30.4 million.

These cases provide critical reading for upright financial professionals, and we have two titles in Books for Business this month on unethical behaviour. The first, Kickback: Exposing the Global Corporate Bribery Network, looks at multinational corporations (many of them Fortune 500 companies) that have paid billions in bribes each year to overseas officials. The second, Accounting Ethics, considers the ethical issues accountants face in their professional lives, and provides end-of-chapter case studies and discussion questions.

If you can’t set aside time to read, perhaps you can set aside time to watch. We have a review of Collared, a documentary about Canada’s only criminal conviction for insider trading. The film considers the psychology behind what led Joseph Grmovsek and his co-accused, Gil Cornblum, to illegally purchase and sell stock with inside information in more than 100 deals.

But if you’re thinking that maintaining ethical behaviour across the board in finance is a lost cause, don’t. In July 2016, the Ontario Securities Commission launched its Whistleblower Program, allowing individuals to report tips on any number of financial-related crimes. In this issue, James Barry provides an update on the program, now in its second year.

As we begin a new year, we can only hope financial professionals will think twice before taking part in any kind of unlawful action. Financial transgressions will continue—that’s a reality. But you don’t have to participate.