How do you feel about corruption
I'm sure this topic has been brought up numerous times by newbies but I have been wanting to understand what bankers feel about corruption. How do people deal with it and carry on working, feeling justified that they are adding value to society?
Don't get the wrong idea about me, If I had the opportunity to commit a couple scams (without getting caught of course), I definitely would without batting an eyelid. But for those who aren't part of this foolery, are they able to stand and defend their company?
Many financial crimes of varying scale and type have been committed in the past 50 years and quite a few people have paid a heavy price (some have not) but that is to be expected because we are all human and there will always be a few bad apples in the company.
What I fail to understand is why banks are never truly dealt with for continuously (never-ending) repeating the same offences time and time again. Even if it's not the managers who are partaking in this foolishness, surely a company is responsible for disciplining its employees?
Is too big to fail/jail really a valid reason to let banks carry on and committing more crimes and illegal dealing with illegal people? How do you guys feel about this, can you stand there and watch your firm get fine after fine and not think something is truly wrong and must be stopped?
I don't mean to generalise because I'm sure there are a lot more firms truly doing honest business and helping facilitate the movement of other peoples' money. It's just some companies, which at times are well known household names (HSBC, Goldman Sachs, DB, Citigroup, Barclays, JP Morgan Chase and many more) are just allowed to carry on and it seems not many people care, as if its become the norm.
Long rant, I'm sorry, but I'm really interested on what are your thoughts on this? Do you just keep your head down and make your money or do you sometimes feel like something is wrong?
Don't wprry, DB won't be around for much longer.
Banking has corrupted my friend's values (Originally Posted: 12/29/2012)
My senior used to be a very nice guy back in university. He does not drink, smoke or womanize. He chose to focus his time fully on his studies and ended up with a good GPA. He has a long term girlfriend from college and he promised to marry her once he has some savings.
When choosing the career path to go after graduation, money was of real concern to him as he wanted to repay his education loans fast so he joined an investment bank. The application process was not easy but a good GPA from a good school certainly helped.
Then I noticed the changes in him. He picked up smoking. He told me that he had to smoke. His boss would go for smoking breaks and he realised that gossips and office politics would be discussed during these smoking breaks. Not wanting to be left out in those discussions, he took up smoking. It also helps in entertaining clients as well because some clients smoked.
Ok, he may be considered a social smoker. Then I realised he has become a womanizer. It all started from innocent settings, a colleague asking him to join him at the bar for drinks after work. In school, he managed to refuse these requests from his friends but he realised he can't refuse this anymore, especially if its his boss who is the one asking. His colleagues picked up chicks at the bar and he watched as amazement as girls who are prettier than his girlfriend went home with some of his colleagues.
The turning point however was when he visited strip clubs. Sometimes his colleagues would ask him out, sometimes he would go there because of clients, sometimes brokers servicing his bank would also ask him out there. As a junior, he has no power to say anything and would go where the boss and his colleagues went. Bit by bit, he started having wild thoughts, that finally accumulated into him turning into a womanizer who has no qualms with dancing with strippers, tipping them, getting their numbers and even bringing them home.
Granted, this does not happen on a everyday basis, but I am quite shocked to see my friend turn out this way. I know the working environment will make you a different person but I don't know that it will corrupt so much. The person I pity most now is his girlfriend.
So your friend now properly appreciates the female form and socializing? Sounds like his balls dropped. Getting married that young is a joke anyways.
cool story
Does his gf have any idea this is going on?
Don't hate the player....
Which bank does he work at? I'm assuming it's either a BB or a boutique in NYC. If the firm has a fratty culture and he's in M&A then yeah changes are to be expected when you're working those hours, otherwise if he's working 60ish hours in capital markets or ER then it would weird that he has changed so much just in order to "fit in"
Troll?
thrad rated
Banking is a tough industry. Can't stay in it for too long. I'm planning 2-3 years and I'm out.
I can't comment too much about the strip club part though I have heard stories about them.
The smoking part and the bar part are very real. I have seen many fresh graduates take up smoking so that they can be part of the 'clique'. Your career comes first before your values. Drinking at bars after work is also something you cannot refuse on a permanent basis. Besides getting to know girls, you get to form closer relationships with your colleagues, as well as the opportunity to network with bankers from other banks, something that may be useful one day if you get retrenched.
Man, I never thought drinking and hitting on women would be something people should be concerned about.
I am going to assume the OP is Indian because of the "my senior" comment. So yeah, I can see how the boozing and whoring probably goes against your morals. Unfortunately, banking isn't the most righteous field. The smoking bit is pretty nasty, not sure why he would get into that. Honestly, a smoking habit seems like a huge liability in a job where you have to be glued to your desk all the time. I've been on 3 hour long management calls and if you need to smoke you are screwed.
Sounds like a BS story. Brokers taking out IB to strip club....that makes zero sense.
I just said he joined an investment bank, he is doing trading cum structuring by the way at the bank.
Yeah, the only thing I see wrong is the smoking.
If boozing, going out, chasing tail, hitting a strip club occasionally and having a cig from time to time are bad things then I think a lot of us are in trouble... but seriously, he has a great job and is 22-23 years old, this is the point in his life where he is supposed to be living it up
it's only 'corrupted' if your friend isn't happy with who he is right now
Corrupt Banking System [Must WATCH for anyone with a brain] (Originally Posted: 08/23/2008)
This highly informative and easy to understand film covers just about everything that isn't taught in school regarding the corrupt banking system. It explains how these institutions get away with robbing the unsuspecting public by creating monetary policies designed to enslave society, while keeping the system in a perpetual state of rising debt.
must watch for anyone who has a brain
I've only watched the 1st video and it's really good...can't wait to watch the rest later this afternoon.
ya' damn right its good. thats the system we live in
Good lord get your left wing conspiracy theories out of here.
such nonsense.
Why did I even bother watching that? I need more vodka...
i don't know where you went to school, but this definitely isn't how i learned it. maybe you were too busy lobbying the school to shut down the campus taco bell or converting people to be vegans and missed out on your first quarter econ class.
Must WATCH for anyone with a brain(TO REJECT THIS BS)
Going for a burger.
It could've been worse. It could've been a whole bunch of Rick Roll videos.
you motherfuckers dont have to believe it
once all of your paper money becomes useless you will remember this
"you motherfuckers dont have to believe it"
Thank you for acknowledging reality and proving you are not completely cuckoo. If you want the bragging rights of claiming that others have to "believe it" join a cult or a religion.
That said, even if the first three videos are true...why is it "corrupt"?
au8, it is people like you that make me realize how fucking retarded most of the planet is. I only wish you went to a school that actually taught you something, and NO basket weaving and pot smoking is not a valid major. Go back to singing kumbaya around a fire camp, while I work my butt off to make money and achieve something in life. In a few years when you won't be able to support your 8 kids I'll be the one providing them with welfare checks; so don't piss in the soup you will be eating in in the future.
Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is. - My ex girlfriend
If money is not backed by gold, then some entity must create it. Whether it is the government or banks that create it does not matter--it is still the same phenomenon.
I am surprised that finance professionals are not aware of how the modern banking system works. Shocked, actually.
"I am surprised that finance professionals are not aware of how the modern banking system works. Shocked, actually."
where are you getting this from?
and au8, as disjoint pointed out I cannot stand people like you. You are scum. Very undeducated, yet you believe you know everything. Your videos were nonsense, i can't believe i actually even contemplated watching any of them. The first video just talks simply how money went from being backed by gold to not being backed by anything due to bretton woods. If you had half the fucking brain you would understand the pros and cons of having money backed by gold. If you had any education at all you would see the downfall that such a regime had in the previous history. Backing money by gold removes any monetary policies the government can use just to give one con, but i doubt you even know what a monetary policy is, so i'll stop wasting my time.
I essentially agree with what you've said, although people might take you more seriously if you explained your viewpoint calmly and concisely.
People in this thread seem to be surprised by and interested in the contents of these videos. Yet if they already understood how the central banking system works, then watching these videos would do nothing to inform. For me, watching the first video was akin to hearing the most basic of mathematics explained in great detail.
My only complaint is that the videos emphasize only the downside of leaving the gold standard, not the upside.
People are always way too quick to blow stuff like this off. I'm going to give these a watch, hopefully later today.
Some people need to calm down, he didn't take personal shots at anyone. You've got people like pebanker attacking the OP with shit like "you are scum." Damn, you need to caaalllmmm down. Save that shit for people who ask about which group is better (GS TMT or MS M&A?!?!?!?!?), that kinda shit. For you to flip out over some videos on the internet is NOT a good look.
I only watched a bit into the 4th video, but I kind of heard the same thing over and over.
They don't discuss 1. Risk 2. Time Value of Money 3. Opportunity Cost
I kind of got a headache when they talked about lending without interest...
Anyways good discussion I guess!
Long Corruption: unethical or inevitable? (Originally Posted: 03/19/2013)
Buying up stocks in companies that I believe have stronger ties to the underside of the economy than the others (not drug dealing etc, but backhanders and corruption to get lucrative contracts). As an ex forensic accountant, I can sniff these out pretty well. Aside from the $ is $ argument, is this wrong?
.
oh the shame of it. Can a mod please change it to unethical. not a typo, just me being a moron.
I don't think there's anything wrong with it - you're not assisting in the corruption. Is there an example that provoked this?
companies working in russian commodity extraction that have an ex kgb guy on the board, or any other unusual appointment (typically a russian national) that is a sore thumb compared to the rest of the directors.
You're doing the market a service by pushing the price towards fair value.
Haha, I'm just being an ass. It flows better with inevitable anyway. Shakespeare made up hundreds of English words...
Anyway, I don't see anything wrong with using your knowledge to get an advantage. You're using public info and/or private non-material info, and finding valuations based on that.
So yea, don't worry. Unless there's some regional regulations prohibiting you from using that info or which force you to bring that information to the authorities...
material public information is legal to trade on
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-03-18/putin-buddy-gets-7-billion-…
I'd say go for it.
Oh my god, i've got notering to
Moe
don't forget to send me that PM with the list and then it will not be unethical!
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