U.S. News & World Report career columnist looks at divide between lying and not telling the whole truth; corporate leaders should pay attention to ethics, not quarterly stock reports, says Irish jurist; U.S. Treasury Department postpones implementation of laws related to offshore tax avoidance
WASHINGTON and DUBLIN
News from the intersection of business and ethics made for multiple headlines last week. Among the coverage:
- U.S. News & World Report career columnist Marty Nemko looked at the difference between an explicit lie and covering up unpleasant facts by omission. Citing the hypothetical case of ?John,? a sales rep who does not lie but nevertheless does not explicitly disclose his product?s faults, Nemko writes: ?Just because John didn?t explicitly lie, was he ethical? Imagine you?re the customer and that salespeople omitted key negatives about their products and used sales tactics to pressure you into buying. In terms of real-world impact, that?s as unethical as if the salespeople had lied to you explicitly. Further, if you actually didn?t need to buy anything, wouldn?t you want the salesman to be ethical enough to say that? For example, if a car mechanic found that your brake pads still had plenty of life left, wouldn?t you expect him to say so? Yet it?s too rare that sellers, even career counselors, say, ?You don?t need to buy what I?m selling.??
- Corporate leaders in Ireland must place more emphasis on ethics and less on constantly pleasing shareholders, according to the nation?s chief justice, reports the Irish Times. Justice Susan Denham says ?a trail of devastation? has wound its way through the court system. ?Ethics in the boardroom and in the governance of enterprises, rather than a constant eye on the needs of shareholders, is the way forward to building trust in our economic sector,? Denham says. Her comments came in a speech following the release of a report on trends in Irish society in the wake of the collapse of the nation?s banking system.
- The U.S. Treasury Department will postpone for six months the enforcement of a new law aimed at curtailing offshore tax avoidance by U.S. citizens and corporations, reports the Reuters news agency. Foreign banks have complained about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, saying it conflicts with regulations in their home countries. Treasury will provide the additional time for parliaments and legislatures to re-tool their national laws.
Sources: Reuters, July 12 ? Irish Times, July 8 ? U.S. News & World Report, July 8.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 8 ? Related Newsline story, June 24 ? Related Newsline story, June 17 ? Related Newsline story, Apr. 8 ? Related Newsline story, May 14, 2012.
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Source: http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2013/07/15/business-ethics-60/
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