quest for clarity can discourage ethical action that would go beyond legal requirements and possibly create
legal exposure. It remains to be seen, for example,whether the Sarbanes-Oxley code-of-ethics provisions,
themselves, will achieve their intended purpose, or whether more tangible and immediate pressures will
prevail. There is already speculation that mandated public disclosure of code waivers – prompted by the
post-Enron focus on transparency on this subject – may actually prompt firms to adopt the narrowest
possible codes that still satisfy the legal requirements.
94
A narrow code will minimize the need for
waivers; but it will also prohibit fewer activities, perhaps even fewer than codes had disallowed before the
new requirements.
95
The worthiness of a broad code of ethics – something that the SEC has even urged
96
–
may yield to concerns about whether a code that isbroader than required will increase the company’s
exposure.
IMPLICATIONS
Once the effect of rules on ethical decision-making is recognized, it follows that rules cannot be
the exclusive solution to ethical misconduct. The practical challenge confronting both the regulators and
the regulated is how to improve ethical decision-making without exacerbating the problem. Rule-makers
must consider what kinds of substantive rules and rule formulations minimize the negative tendencies that
inhere in rules, and the private sector needs to develop programs that will improve ethical climates.
Regulators
Regulations have traditionally addressed ethical matters implicitly, prescribing specific conduct
without mentioning ethics. Prompted by the pervasiveness of corporate scandals, however, more recent
regulations have begun to refer to ethics explicitly. Sarbanes-Oxley and the listing standards of the NASD
and NYSE include provisions on codes of ethics, and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines now provide that
maintaining a “compliance and ethical culture” may mitigate the sentence imposed on a corporate
defendant.
97
94
See Note, The Good, the Bad, and Their Corporate Codes of Ethics: Enron, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the
Problems With Legislating Good Behavior, 116 HARV. L. REV. 2123, 2137-40 (2003) (hereinafter “The
Good, the Bad, and Their Corporate Codes of Ethics”).
95
See id.
96
See Code of Ethics Release, supra note 30, § II.B2.c.
97
See U.S. SENTENCING GUIDELINES MANUAL§ 8B2.1(a)(2) (2005), available at
http://www.ussc.gov/2005guid/gl2005.pdf.
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