JABE Annual Dinner & Property Seminar 2008
From Left: Rabbi Levin, Gerald Ronson, Andrew Neil, Lord Myners and Nick Leslau
JABE Debates Ethics in times of Crisis
Can we afford to remain ethical in this era of financial turmoil? This dilemma was at the heart of the Jewish Association of Business Ethics' (JABE) Annual Dinner & Seminar: Property Boom and Bust, Do Ethics Change? held last week at London's Park Lane Hotel.
Over 250 of the City's leading movers and shakers were warmly welcomed by JABE's vice-president Sir Trevor Chinn. JABE's chairman, Maurice Moses, detailed the consistent and growing success of JABE's work, within schools and the corporate sector to the packed room.
The guests listened intently to the views of the high-profile panel consisting of Lord Paul Myners, Gerald Ronson, Nick Leslau and Rabbi Shlomo Levin. Broadcaster Andrew Neil interviewed the panel in his own inimitable style, engaging the panel and guests in a lively debate on the issues facing the property industry in the current financial climate.
Neil pointed out that "the real test is how you behave when things aren't so good." Nick Leslau insisted that the current situation presents enormous commercial and ethical challenges: "The ‘law of the jungle' places moral stress on bankers, borrowers and professionals alike. It's easy to say ‘I'm going to be completely ethical', but what's really going to happen over the next five years?"
Rabbi Shlomo Levin outlined the Jewish perspective stressing that "ethical behaviour cannot be discarded in difficult times. People must take into consideration whether their actions will have a good effect on society as a whole rather than being advantageous purely to themselves."
Ethical conduct is its own reward, Lord Myners said. It was in the enlightened self-interest of banks to behave responsibly, "because as a bank, if you don't lend, you will do yourself damage."
In response to Andrew Neil's view that "the behaviour of the banks not only nearly caused their own demise but nearly brought down the whole capitalist system", Nick Leslau claimed the blame ought to be shared; "We didn't have to take the money from the banks. We could talk about reckless borrowing as well as reckless lending. People were constantly refinancing, treating their homes like ATMs. If our parents and grandparents couldn't afford something, they didn't buy it."
Property developer Gerald Ronson reasoned that whilst a large number of unscrupulous people had entered the property sector over the last few years, he hoped the current climate would mean that "the duckers and the divers will be out".
The consensus among the panel was that, as Andrew Neil put it, "ethical behaviour should be part of practical reality, not just a distant ideal." Lord Myners was full of praise for JABE's programmes and activities, highlighting that "good ethics are an essential part of business".
JABE introduced its new initiative Good Business Practice at the event, which will provide corporations with Principles for the Ethical Conduct of Business that will become part of their values and culture.
Guests on the evening included many well know personalities from the property sector, including Richard Loftus, Manny Davidson and Michael Heller.
