Corporate Ethics and Governance

Running head: CORPORATE ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE
Corporate Ethics and Governance
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CORPORATE ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE
Executive Summary
Ethical governance is absolutely imperative both in the political and financial sectors as it is
only ethical governance that can ensure public good. Banks and financial institutions in
particular need to carry out operations in as ethical a manner as possible if public interests are
to be adequately looked into. This report analyzes the findings of the Royal Commissions
report on the misconduct prevalent in Australian banks and financial institutions. The report
also discusses how the provisions of Part A and Part C of APES 110 establishes ethical codes
of conduct for finance and banking professionals in Australia with special reference to the
Freedom Insurance case study.

2CORPORATE ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1. Understanding the Royal Bank’s Analysis and Recommendations for Banking
Misconduct in Australia using the Ethical Theory of Utilitarianism.........................................3
2. Using Part A and Part C of APES 110 to understand why Freedom Insurance’s Tactics to
be aggressive and inappropriate in sales matters is an ethical Issue and the various safeguards
provided under APES 110 in this respect..................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

3CORPORATE ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE
Introduction
Ethics forms and should form an integral part of governance in every part of the
world. In the corporate world in particular, ethics should be deployed in administrative
activities in order to make sure that the interests of shareholders and stakeholders for firms
and institutions are all duly met. This report analyzes the findings and recommendations on
the Royal Commissions Report on misconduct in Australian banks and financial institutions
using the ethical theory of utilitarianism. The report also uses Part A and Part C of APES 110
to discuss how the inappropriate and aggressive tactics used by Freedom Insurance to sell its
policies is unacceptable and unethical.
1. Understanding the Royal Bank’s Analysis and Recommendations for Banking
Misconduct in Australia using the Ethical Theory of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is one of the best known ethical theories which determines wrong
from right through a focus on outcomes. Utilitarianism can be regarded as another form of
consequentialism. The ethical theory of utilitarianism is based on the notion that the
greatest good is what needs to be ensured for the greatest number of people and it is
possibly the only theoretical or philosophical framework that justifies war or military
actions for the achievement of outcomes (Lyons, 2015). It needs to be remembered that
since it is impractical to know from beforehand whether actions can be bad or be good,
utilitarianism as an ethical theory is not always considered in a positive light, but by and
large, utilitarianism as an ethical theory can be used to understand actions that are taken for
the public good or the common good (Barrow, 2015).
The Royal Bank’s investigation into the misconduct of Australian banks shows that
mortgage brokers, banking authorities and financial executives have been acting in their own