Enron and World Finance

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Overview of the Book

   1. Overview of the Book

      • Andrew Cornford

      Pages 1-15

3. Enron: Origins, Character and Failure

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17

      PDF

   2. Enron and Internationally Agreed Principles for Corporate Governance and the Financial Sector

      • Andrew Cornford

      Pages 19-53

   3. A Revisionist View of Enron and the Sudden Death of ‘May’

      • Frank Partnoy

      Pages 54-89

   4. Who Is Who in the World of Financial ‘Swaps’ and Special Purpose Entities

      • François-Marie Monnet

      Pages 90-100

4. Ethics in Thought and Action

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101

      PDF

   2. An Ethical Diagnosis of the Enron Affair

      • Etienne Perrot

      Pages 103-116

   3. Anonymity: Is a Norm as Good as a Name?

      • Edward Dommen

      Pages 117-130

   4. Spaces for Business Ethics

      • Domingo Sugranyes Bickel

      Pages 131-139

5. Corporate Governance and Auditing

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 141-141

      PDF

   2. The Demise of Andersen: A Consequence of Corporate Governance Failure in the Context of Major Changes in the Accounting Profession and the Audit Market

      • Catherine Sauviat

      Pages 143-158

   3. Enron et al. and Implications for the Auditing Profession

      • Anthony Travis

      Pages 159-167

   4. Enron Revisited: What Is a Board Member to Do?

      • Beth Krasna

      Pages 168-179

   5. How to Restore Trust in Financial Markets?

      • Hans J. Blommestein

      Pages 180-190

6. Corporate Culture and Ethics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 191-191

      PDF

   2. Enron: The Collapse of Corporate Culture

      • John Dobson

      Pages 193-205

   3. Ethics, Courage and Discipline: The Lessons of Enron

      • Robert C. Kennedy

      Pages 206-216

   4. Developing Leadership and Responsibility: No Alternative for Business Schools

      • Henri-Claude de Bettignies

      Pages 217-225

   5. Ethics for a Post-Enron America

      • John R. Boatright

      Pages 226-233

Four years after the debacle, the term 'Enron' has earned its place in the everyday vocabulary of business ethics. Hardly anyone understands the business intricacies of what really happened with the sophisticated energy conglomerate. Even fewer are those able to envision, beyond the business case, the ethical questions and dilemmas facing actors at any one stage of the drama. Using the collapse of Enron as a case study, this book not only shows how and where ethics came into play, but also draws lessons and discusses possible remedies that may prevent the whole financial system from falling apart as a result of either excessive greed or over-regulation.

'The essays in this book greatly enhance our understanding of the causes of one of the most important events in financial history. The authors examine in notable depth the ethical and governance dimensions of the Enron saga, while providing a fascinating commentary on the nature of modern finance capitalism.' - John Plender, Financial Times and author of Going off the Rail - Global Capital and the Crisis of Legitimacy

'Enron and World Finance addresses the most important issue of our time...This brilliant collection of essays with its remarkably insightful introduction and conclusion require us to consider what might be called the tyranny of economics...Enron is important not only in itself but also as a warning signal of the predictable destructive consequences of the failure of language.' - Robert A. G. Monks, Lens Governance Advisors, USA

'Enron offers an 'ideal' example of using or perhaps misusing financial innovations within modern corporations. The book Enron and World Finance provides a very insightful overview of this memorable case where the ethical dimension of an organization is nonexistent. As professors of Finance, we welcome such a book that illustrates the pitfalls of financial creativity when it ignores or abuses the boundaries of an honest corporate culture and of its management.' - Marc Chesney and Rajna Gibson, Professors of Finance, Swiss Banking Institute, University of Zürich, Switzerland

'The book provides, at once, afresh understanding of the place of ethical thought in financial markets, and a focus on leadership and responsibility for the implementation of ethical duties. I commend this fascinating book to a wide readership in financial and academic institutions.' - Professor Dr. Hans Tietmeyer, Bundesbankprasident i.R., Germany

• University of Fribourg, Switzerland

  Paul H. Dembinski

• University of Geneva, Switzerland

  Carole Lager

• Financial Markets Center, Switzerland

  Andrew Cornford

• University Paris IV-Sorbonne, Switzerland

  Jean-Michel Bonvin

• Department of Sociology, University of Geneva, Switzerland

  Jean-Michel Bonvin

HENRI-CLAUDE DE BETTIGNIES Chair in Leadership and Responsibility and Professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD, France HANS J. BLOMMESTEIN Head of Capital Markets Programme at the OECD, and Professor of Finance, Tilburg University, The Netherlands HOHN R. BOATRIGHT Professor of Business Ethics, Graduate School of Business, Loyola University, Chicago, USA JOHN DOBSON Researcher, California Polytechnic State University, USA EDWARD DOMMEN President of the Scientific Committee of the Geneva International Academic Network, Switzerland ROBERT G. KENNEDY Professor, Departments of Management and Catholic Studies' University of St Thomas, USA BETH KRASNA Independent Board Member, Vaud Cantonal Bank, Switzerland; Federal Institutes of Technology; Raymond Weil South Africa FRANÇOIS-MARIE MONNET Formerly Chair of the Swiss Bond Commission of the European Federation of Financial Analysts' Societies; member of the Swiss Stock Exchange Bond Index Commission; Board of Directors of the SICAV, created to respond to the needs of institutional investors FRANK PARTNOY Professor of Law, University of San Diego, USA ETIENNE PERROT Economist specializing in economic rent and corruption CATHERINE SAUVIAT Senior Economist, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales, France DOMINGO SUGRANYES Member of the Executive Board of MAPFRE, an international Spanish-based mutual insurance group ANTHONY TRAVIS Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Geneva, Switzerland

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