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Law, Ethics and the business world
Thursday, 25 October, 2012 - 15:00 to Thursday, 25 October, 2012 - 16:30
Campus: Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering campus
Aula QD
Aula QD
Paul Jorion
Guest lecture
Topics:
- The issues of fraud and of “white collar” crime (Savings & Loan, Salomon Brothers)
- National and cultural legal traditions put the emphasis either on the spirit or the letter of the law
- Transparency and “symmetry of information” are necessary for market operations. Insider dealing runs counter this (however there is no insider dealing on the commodities markets, why the difference – allowing arbitrage?)
- Profitability is often allowed to prevail against transparency: “dark pools” and high frequency trading are tolerated despite their undermining of transparency
- During the current financial crisis conflict of interest (e.g. the Libor affair) and moral hazard (e.g. socialization of losses) have been rampant
- Changes in the law reflect historical trends, so does evolution of accounting rules
- Has fraud been a cause or an auxiliary factor in the subprime crisis?