ETHICS AND CSR IN FINANCE

This course addresses ethics-related questions by painting a picture of the finance professional as a steward of the global economy. Within a program that equips students with the technical knowledge and analytical skills needed to understand and make financial decisions, this course helps to articulate and deepen students' appreciation of what they are doing all this for, to equip them with practical skills and strategies that will enable them to remain true to their values in the face of workplace challenges, to think critically about ethical issues in finance, to analyze the impacts both of their firm and of those it helps finance on organizational stakeholders such as employees, customers, neighboring communities, and the natural environment, and to address those issues in their role as manager or investor. Along the way will be achieved those learning outcomes demanded by the CFA Institute relating to ethics, professional standards, and corporate governance.
Course outline:
1. Introduction
2. The ethics toolkit
3. Voicing values 1 - Introduction
4. Special duties of the finance professional
5. Voicing values 2 - Countering objections
6. The stakeholder perspective
7. ESG risk analysis
8. Corporate governance and the role of the board
9. Trust and the firm's culture
10. Corporate governance case study
11. Human rights, followed by case study
12. Justice and sustainability, followed by case study
13. Shareholders and shareholder activism
14. Stewardship as a norm