Financial crimes: the constant challenge of seeking effective prevention solutions
Purpose – Financial market‐related crimes seem to continually increase in number as well as in the amount of illicit profits. This emerging situation has obliged governments and self‐regulated bodies to act aggressively on the issue. This paper provides a snapshot of the evolution timeline of financial crimes and discussion in support of the fight against this plague.Design/methodology/approach – Based on financial crime literature and field work.Findings – Improvement in the expertise and degree of refinement employed by both organized crime and criminal businessmen.Research limitations/implications – Some information originates from confidential sources and consequently could not be further developed.Originality/value – Contemporary picture of the current situation. Some recommendations were submitted to regulatory authorities who are examining and adjusting their actions accordingly.
An offenderâ€™s perspective of what motivates and deters white-collar criminals in the South African workplace
The aim of this study was to investigate the motives of white-collar criminals so as to gain a better understanding of white-collar crime and develop measures that can help to reduce it. The study involved face-to-face interviews with white-collar offenders imprisoned at a correctional centre in South Africa. The data collected provided evidence to support the existing theory relating to the motives for white-collar crime; however, a previously unreported theme of race emerged as a key motivator among the respondents. Race was further identified as a key justification for committing the crime. Suggestions from the respondents to employment relations practitioners on how best to mitigate the risks were also collected and reported. The deterrents that were identified as most effective by the respondents revolved around four themes, namely reports and signing authority, working environment, education and matching roles and responsibilities.
The Effect of the Bubble Act on the Market for Joint Stock Shares
In 1720 the Bubble Act was passed in the English Parliament.' There is a commonly held view that the Bubble Act was passed either as a result of the collapse of the bull market (the bursting of the speculative "bubble"), or as a result of the abuses to investors caused by the speculative frenzy.2 While these explanations have surface plausibility, they are inconsistent with the actual timing of the Act. The Act was passed June 11, 1720; the "bubble" burst in September of that year. Indeed, the act may have played a role in causing the market collapse.3 If the Act was not intended to remedy excesses which led to a crash, why was it passed? We believe passage of the Bubble Act was a consequence of changes in the business environment during the early eighteenth century. As non-corporations began to assume many of the rights previously enjoyed only by chartered corporations, the ability of governmental authorities to raise revenue through the issuance of charters diminished. The Bubble Act was specifically intended to prevent non-chartered firms from using the formal market, and it succeeded in doing this. The explanation also accounts for the observation of Philip Mirowski regarding activity in the market for joint-stock shares.4 Mirowski finds that well-organized capital markets were already in existence at the outset of the eighteenth century, as were their institutional structures, including property transfer rules, widely dispersed price information, and professional arbitrageurs. Activity on these markets appears to have declined throughout the century. Some existing firms ceased using the formal share market, and the shares of few, if any, firms commenced trading there. Mirowski uses his findings to cast doubt upon what he considers a central contention in neoclassical economic history, usefully expressed as follows. A market mechanism is the most efficient way of allocating resources and processing information. Hence, in the absence of legal constraints that prevent their use, markets must inevitably arise. According to Mirowski, imperfections and rigidities were being removed during the eighteenth century in England, and using the neoclassical paradigm, we would expect to see an increased use of the market mechanism for raising capital and exchanging shares in joint-stock companies. This leads him to conclude that the first premise of the