Policies Meet Reality

If you worry about ethics for all the wrong reasons - like, say, you're concerned someone might be looking over your shoulder - reality is, unfortunately, on your side. Because it seems that while companies have been diligent in creating ethics policies, few of them actually follow up to make sure it's being observed, at least in the UK.

In a survey conducted by CFO Europe Research Services and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, 90 percent of companies reported having a written ethics policy.

Writes WebCPA:

The survey also found that the top-performing companies were likely to report they had an excellent ethical climate. However, when the survey asked about whether companies and their boards had practices and procedures in place to monitor whether they were adhering to their code of ethics and processes to provide such assurances, the results were disappointing.

Strategic responsibility for ethics resides a step above the CFO, with the chairman or CEO, but CFOs are more likely to be the day-to-day guardians. Moxey believes that CFOs should help fulfill this role. "I think it's something that CFOs should be very actively involved in," he said. "CFOs are the natural keepers of the corporate conscience. They are the natural people to be spearheading a company's approach to whether it's living up to its values or complying with its rules."

Ethics Policies Often Not Monitored [WebCPA]