GORDON MARINO (Op-ed, April 11) questioned the role of business ethicists in addressing the moral hazards and greed that promulgated the recent economic freefall. On the surface, it's a worthy question, but I believe he is much too harsh and, in some ways, naive in his understanding of the profession.
The ethics profession has grown dramatically over the past 20 years, following the scandals of the late 1980s and reinvigorated by the events at Enron and WorldCom and the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Ethics and Compliance Officer Association, of which I am executive director, has grown from 19 original members in 1992 to more than 1,200. Our members work to establish and strengthen organizational culture so that it more effectively discourages dishonest, irresponsible, disrespectful, and illegal activities while encouraging accountability, fairness, and integrity in business dealings. They represent a cross-section of industries; however, Wall Street firms focus more on compliance than ethics. Wall Street comprises a group of heavily regulated businesses that typically take a very legalistic view of their responsibilities. With so much money at stake for the so-called Masters of the Universe, temptations are great. While everyone was enjoying the rising tide of success, no one was willing to rock the boat.
While the economic tsunami has deeply affected us all, let's not condemn the fine work of an outstanding group of ethics professionals at large for the actions and omissions of people willing to turn a blind eye.
Keith T. Darcy
Waltham 
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